New technology can measure how many people look at a poster

Advertisers will soon be able to monitor who is viewing their posters and for how long, thanks to a new webcam-based analytical program.

SmartSign Analytics (SSA), which was unveiled by EFI at the ISA International Sign Expo last week, uses a webcam with eye-tracking tools to monitor consumer engagement with print advertising.

When installed into a poster, it is able to measure how many people glance at the poster and present this as legible data, allowing advertisers to adjust their outdoor printing campaign and potentially achieve better results.

Mark McGowan, who is director of online print solutions at EFI, believes that the technology will prove extremely useful to print advertisers in all kinds of industries.

Speaking to printweek.com, he said: "Print can drive relevance, revenue and profit in the age of big data and this technology demonstration can show how that will happen with signage. SSA has the potential to deliver unprecedented insights on the best strategies and execution to drive retail sales."

Myprintresource.com reports that SSA is able to discard facial pattern data on the go, meaning that no-one's face is saved within the software. EFI will begin beta testing of the product within the next couple of months.