Hannah Menchu - Bionic Mannequins Spy on Shoppers to Boost Luxury Sales

The Benetton Group has begun to equip their stores with mannequins called EyeSee.  These mannequins are equipped look ordinary on the outside, but inside one of the eyes there is a camera.  This camera feeds data into facial-recognition software like that used by police.  It logs the age, gender and race of shoppers, and is suppose to give more information about the shopper to the store.

The EyeSee is sold by an Italian mannequin maker, Almax SpA, and it made to give more data to retail businesses.   The 4,000-euro ($5,072) device has spurred shops to adjust window displays, store layouts and promotions to keep consumers walking in the door and spending.

I think this is wild!  To think a mannequin would take my picture and then know what I tend to shop for and what I like.