SK Telecom, Korea’s biggest telecom operator, has developed an image recognition solution for outdoor advertising.

The solution, which will be adopted at the International Finance Center in Yeouido, can analyze a group of people visiting the IFC Mall for demographic information such as age and gender, after photographing them with full high-definition cameras placed above or below large digital advertising screens.

Such real-time customer statistics gathered through SK Telecom’s image solution will be sent to advertisers that can display interactive, augmented reality or other types of ads targeting specific demographics, a company spokesperson explained.

For instance, advertisers can show ads particularly for young teenage women near or in front of a cosmetic shop after its solution recognizes such a group of consumers regularly visiting or passing by the store.

The spokesperson said that this technology is slightly different from the one seen in “Minority Report” where there is a scene of interactive ads and information introduced to Tom Cruise after he is recognized when he walks into a clothing shop.

The sci-fi movie by Steven Spielberg features future technology that can display ads exclusively for a single person, while SK Telecom offers a solution for advertisers that can show their ads to a group of consumers.

The company cannot provide a solution like the one in the movie since such technology, which needs to access and use personal information data, would fall under the violation of individual’s privacy rights, he noted.

SK Marketing & Company, an advertising agency wholly owned by SK Telecom and SK Innovation, will use its parent company’s solution to create ads for its clients.

SK Telecom will further develop the image recognition solution so that it can be used for security and protection.

By Park Hyong-ki (hkp@heraldcorp.com)