How face recognition can help bring brick-and-mortar retail stores on par with the online world

Big data and face recognition are two tech sectors that had nothing in common a few years ago, but soon they will converge in more ways than one. Metalworks, the research and development arm of Maxus Global in Singapore, gave Tech in Asia a peek into how the two technologies will work together in the fields of advertising and brick-and-mortar shopping.

Out of home display ads

OOH advertising has existed since man invented the road sign, but unless you survey individual customers, there’s been no real way to determine how effective they are. Metalworks’ digital OOH facial recognition screen measures glances and attention span and shows the most suitable advertisements based on sex and estimated age of the audience.

This “behavioral targeting” has existed for some time in online display ads. “Facial recognition technologies today collect input from the physical world and gives physical media served a similar competitive advantage,” said Nico Abbruzzese, Global Director of Creative Technology at Maxus and Head of Metalworks. “The horizon is far closer than five years. Already a lot of outdoor sites area use this kind of technology to stay relevant.”

See: With FaceRecog, your outdoor ad audience is no longer faceless

Cosmetic and fashion recommendations

Metalworks’ MagicMirror provides makeup recommendations based on a real-time face scan of the customer’s skin tone and age. “MagicMirror is essentially a make-up artist in a box,” said Tom Kelshaw, Director of Technology at Metalworks.

Whereas choosing makeup online can be a bit of a gamble, the MagicMirror aims to provide a more practical and accurate method to try out cosmetics without using samples or buying them outright first. The mirror can push recommendations for specific brands and seasonal trends.

Payments

Passwords and PIN numbers could soon be a thing of the past, replaced by fingerprint scans and face recognition cameras. Metalworks has developed contactless Bluetooth payment that allows payments to be made via a smartphone within close range of a store or restaurant. The customer then confirms the payment with their face.

In this case, which combines an ewallet with face recognition, the customer doesn’t even need a wallet – just his or her smartphone.

While Metalworks didn’t specify, you can imagine how all these technologies might interact to take advantage of the data they collect. If the payment machine collects information about which cosmetics young women are buying, that info can be used to recommend products on the MagicMirror and serve better-targeted ads using the OOH display ads.

Of course, facial recognition has its limits. People age and men’s facial hair changes all the time. “The idea here is to identify shoppers based on broad categories such as age groups and race and serve relevant ads and recommendations,” Abbruzzese said. “Throughout the process of implementing all the technologies, data will be collected to improve the technology and offer insights to retailers so they can make smart decisions adjusting their retail front based on data and not just gut feel and customer feedback.”