One of the reasons that advertisers like to advertise on the internet is because they know exactly how many people their ads reach and know if the ads entice the surfer to click and buy. Ads that advertisers place in malls and on billboards lack the luxury of knowing who is looking at the ad.

Engineers form NEC in Japan have created a new advertising system for use in public areas like malls and airports that is remarkable similar to the advertising system that was in the Steven Spielberg film “Minority Report”. In the film, as Tom Cruise walks past holographic ads in a mall, they recognize him and use his name to offer things like a cold beer or a new car.

The system -- called the Next Generation Digital Signage Solution -- NEC has developed won’t know who the person walking by or viewing the ad is, but it will use a system that can determine the gender and age of a person within ten years. The age and gender data will be used to tailor the ads shown to the specific person watching in hopes that the ads are more effective.

Some critics are already complaining that NEC's system is an invasion of privacy. NEC maintains that people viewing the ads would remain anonymous and images of their face would be deleted. The NEC system features a small camera and a flat screen that captures an image of the person as they walk by. The longer the person views the ad, the more accurate the advertising is said to be for the person.

NEC's Takeshi Yamamoto said, "For digital signage that relies on generating revenue by selling advertising, there has always been a need for advertising agencies to know who is watching." He also states that several advertising companies are interested in the system already. The NEC system is expected to get a trial run in America later in 2010 and if the trial is successful, the technology will be used all around the world.