Intel Corporation (not to be confused with the Tyrrell Corporation, but you would be forgiven – this was science fiction writer Phillip K Dick’s idea) have unveiled digital signage technology that recognising shoppers age and gender and automatically tailors advertising to the individual.

When you really think about, it’s not too far removed from the personalised advertising we have been experiencing for a while now.

I’m sure I’m not the only one to be taken a back upon realising Gmail was tracking the content of mails in order to give me targeted messages. A friend told me recently about how minutes after he’d updated his Facebook status to single, dating site promos started to appear on his profile page.

Zuckerburg – you could at least wait a couple of weeks!

All outdoor advertising needed was some way of ‘logging us in’ so we can be recognised and hit with targeted ads when out and about. Ok, the segmentation will not be all that sophisticated right now, but watch this space……

Any bets on how long before it recognises that unsightly zit on your chin and serve you up a Clearasil advert? A slouch of the shoulders and drag of the feet results in an embarassing prompt to see your doctor about Prozac? Scruffy clothes result in a pay day loans offer where you can enjoy a 30000% interest rate.

OK I’m being cynical, there are certainly benefits to consumers – more choice, better targeting and less irrelevant noise in the bombardment of distration marketing we are hit with on a daily basis to name a few.

Intel’s forecast phenomenal growth for digital signage of up to $4.3 billion by 2016. Watch the video below for some of the applications being worked on: