Introduction
Over the years, consumers have been plagued with targeted advertisements as companies have tracked their data to pinpoint their interests and wants. This plateaued and has leveled off as regulators have begun to limit what software companies can keep track of, or at least require those companies to ask for permission before tracking. We have seen this recently when we download new apps and are asked for permission to track data across apps. However, a new area of marketing has begun to emerge, specifically in facial and eye tracking. This allows marketers to target consumers and understand future purchases based on habits and physical actions. It opens an entirely new world of possibilities for those marketers.
How it works and progress in the field
Facial and eye technology is impressive. Eye tracking functions by cameras and sensors measuring the movements of the eye, eye positions, and the direction of the gaze of a consumer. It keeps track of visual attention and the technology can identify where, at what, and for how long someone is looking at a specific object. Facial recognition technology can be paired with eye tracking to create profiles of specific customers. Thus, allows companies to understand where these specific customers tend to shop, the brands they are interested in, and how they can design a store that matches their needs. There has been an immense amount of progress in the accuracy of these fields, most specifically eye tracking. It has become much more accurate as cameras improve and AI becomes an integral part of the technology. AI allows the software to learn and better analyze where gazes are directed. Overall, this technology is continuing to develop quickly.
The power of the technology
The most impressive part of this technology is its application. One of those applications is in the field of marketing. It allows marketers to learn and adapt stores to market specific items to consumers that are specifically drawn toward those goods.
It is a unique and innovative take on marketing. It allows these researchers to understand exactly how their brand is viewed by the public and to place those products in places that are optimal for its success. While this blog post is specifically on how this technology impacts the marketing field, there are many other amazing applications. Just to name a few, there have been advances in automobiles, allowing cars to ensure that the driver’s eyes are focused on the road and not distracted, introducing negative reinforcement similar to a seat belt chime to ensure they maintain focus. Others have applied it to different computers so people can control them with eye and facial movements and expressions. There are some amazing places this technology can be applied.
Privacy issues
It feels like with each of these posts, I have always had to mention their risks, I guess that is a part of the unknown and probably the technology industry as a whole. With that being said, there is a risk that is introduced with eye tracking and that falls into the privacy issue. Similar to the concern of whether companies should be able to track your data for marketing across apps, should marketers be able to watch you and analyze your movements and behaviors for their benefit? That idea doesn’t quite bother me, however, I know plenty of people that would be incredibly uncomfortable with that idea. This is a question that I am sure we will see answered in the coming years as regulators continue to set limits on what is and is not off limits.
Combining technologies to open a world of possibility
I wanted to close this blog post by pointing out something that I noticed when I was thinking about this topic. I noticed many technologies we are seeing today are compilations of multiple types of technology. For example, eye-tracking technology uses cameras combined with AI to create a product that is incredibly useful. Both have existed, but someone thought of combining their usefulness to create something that adds even more value. I think this is where many of the next generations of entrepreneurs will find immense success. They will take technology that has been developed and combine them to create products that further their value at very little cost to the entrepreneur. I will be curious to watch this over the next few years. Thanks for reading!