Bionic Mannequins Spy on Shoppers to Boost Luxury Sales

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Bionic Mannequins Spy on Shoppers to Boost Luxury Sales

Claudia

Veteran

I am all for market research, but this is unsettling to me.

"Bionic Mannequins Spy on Shoppers to Boost Luxury Sales" : http://www.bloomberg.com/news/.....sales.html

"Cameras Inside Mannequins Spying on Shoppers" :

High-tech dummies to record conversations
Paul Joseph Watson
Infowars.com
November 21, 2012

Just when you thought it was impossible for surveillance to get any creepier, a company has announced it has created mannequins with cameras installed inside that can be used to spy on shoppers and record their conversations – and that they’ve already been rolled out at numerous fashion stores across the world.
http://www.infowars.com/camera.....-shoppers/

Nordstrom and Benetton already using these: http://www.aol.com/video/compa.....d%3D236628

13 years ago

Shopping

13 replies

Latest reply was from Thistle

Janet

(website)

Veteran

I saw that too. Now I'm tempted to go up to the mannequins and make faces, but I'll look crazy to the other shoppers.

13 years ago

Sylvie

Veteran

Ugh. That sounds like a privacy violation to me. Makes me want to shop online instead of in store.

13 years ago

Suz

(website)

Veteran

Except we know they are collecting all kinds of information from us online as well!

Yikes.

Yesterday my daughter was commenting on the creepiness of those "faceless" mannequins - the kind that have heads, but no faces (including flattened noses). She said they looked like the alien bad guys in some series she has read. Maybe she was right!

13 years ago

Raisin

Veteran

That is weird. I guess they can record what they want to in their own stores. But really, how many people are having in depth conversations by a mannequin that will help them that much with market research? Seems like a waste of money to me.

13 years ago

Anonymous

Heh, might be a good way to *let the store* know what you think about their merchandise or policies in a sneaky but direct way (pretending all the while you have no idea you and your shopping buddy are being recorded)!

13 years ago

Claudia

Veteran

RR, with the facial recognition software they can record and capture demographic things like race, age, gender. They can track eye movement and length of time looking at items. Also, I know when I shop with another person like my daughter, mom, or friends we talk a lot about what we like, don't like, etc. about the merchandise.

There have been posts here about actually undressing mannequins to get at a certain size of clothing and the displayed styling accessories. So I think there is so much information that can be scientifically gathered and analyzed from doing this.

13 years ago

Claudia

Veteran

Ha! Claire! I like the idea of turning it around on them like that.

13 years ago

Diana

Veteran

Ha, I think I'd be boring since I usually shop alone! Maybe next time I will stop and have an in-depth conversation WITH the mannequin. =P

In all seriousness, though, I thought this seemed a bit creepy and intrusive at first, but then I got to thinking: how is this different from the security cameras that record us in every store anyway? I guess it depends on what they do with the footage, but the recording itself? It happens to us every day already. Our shopping preferences are already being tracked on the internet too... I actually thought it was hilarious that a couple of weeks ago when Una posted about the "crotch-ety" pants at Yoox, for a while they kept appearing in the Yoox ads I get here and on other sites.

13 years ago

Claudia

Veteran

Diana, good questions to ask, and things we should be thinking about or at least aware of in my opinion.

I am thinking that younger people in the high-tech digital age are more use to and less worried about the possibility of negative applications.

Personally, I don't have a Facebook account and use Do Not Track software because of my concerns about privacy. But I am 51 and didn't grow up with it, so maybe it is a generational concern that is unfounded in today's world.

I also wonder about how easily people can be manipulated into buying things that don't need and can't afford. At what point does capturing all this information about us become too intrusive? Is there a clear line that is crossed when it is constantly being blurred and chipped away at? Just some random thoughts...

13 years ago

bj1111

Veteran

one word...AAAAACCCCCKKKKKK!!!!!

13 years ago

Lisa

Veteran

Interesting and while my first reaction was "whoa that's creepy" I have to agree with Diana, security cameras sort of do the same thing. Just now they can get more information. And my rant, I notice more and more stores asking for your email to send you a receipt. I never give out my personal information as it is.

13 years ago

kkards

Veteran

Lisa, if you use a credit card, the store you shop in already has access to a ton of personal info on you, giving them your email is only going to give them an add't way to contact you.
For really creepy article on what stores already know about you, there was a piece in the new York times earlier this year about targets ability to predict what you will buy, and how accurate they are.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02.....wanted=all

Unless we are going to go back to cash only, it seems we are going to be tracked and targeted.

13 years ago

Thistle

Veteran

Creepy. Sorry, just creepy. Bad enough that they hneed security surveillence to stop shoplifting. But this? Whole new level of intrusive.

Yes, they can track my online purchases, but this just seems like a whole different level of intrusive.

13 years ago

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