When Jason Sosa started work on a webcam technology that detects, in real time, the age, gender, attention time, and glances of the people looking at it, he thought he was solving an advertising problem. It’s turned out to be much more.

His startup’s first product was a digital billboard that changes the ads it displays depending on who looks at them–showing, for instance, an ad for a toy to a child and an ad for aftershave to a man.





It wasn’t long, however, before requests started pouring in from other industries eager to use the technology:

In a car, one request proposed, real-time facial detection could monitor a driver’s attention, alerting him if he falls asleep.

In a fast-food restaurant, it could track how many people are standing in line.

In a house, it could help control the temperature based on who is home.

In a bar, it could keep tabs on the gender ratio (though startup SceneTap already does so using a similar technology).