Imagine a trip to the UAE mall of the future. You are greeted by a robotic personal shopper, who guides you to your favourite store, encouraging you to splash the cash — or, rather, Bitcoins. Once there, a machine scans your face and you are bombarded by ads tailored specifically to you. A flying drone then takes a picture of your (presumably terrified) expression, and posts it to Facebook.
It all sounds like something from Minority Report, the Tom Cruise thriller set in 2054. But according to one communications executive, some of these technologies could be in the UAE within months, not years. Nico Abbruzzese, global director of creative technology at the media agency Maxus, who was in Dubai recently to discuss these concepts, says the group is in discussions about bringing innovations like this to the Emirates.
Mr Abbruzzese, who is based in Singapore and also heads the agency’s research unit Metalworks, explains why technologies like facial recognition can be friendly, not fearsome.
How long before we see facial recognition used in UAE mall advertising?
Judging by some of the conversations I am having now, it’s six months or a year away. This is technology that is already there, readily available. The specific conversation that we’re having at the moment covers more than a dozen fronts. One is facial recognition, one is using drone technology for a personalised shopping assistant.
Drones as personal shoppers? That sounds scary.
It’s a bit of an out-of-the-box idea. But if I enter a shopping mall and I’m a very valuable customer who will spend thousands of dollars on shopping in one day — and that’s a not-uncommon profile in the UAE — why not provide a personalised shopping attendant? It would look like a mini-Segway, following you around, helping you enjoy the best shopping experience in a mega-mall, where you’re very likely to get lost otherwise.
So not a flying drone?
The shopping assistant device that we imagine is a combination of a flying device and a [ground-based] device. When you decide you want to share an experience with someone, the flying device detaches and takes a selfie image you can share on Facebook. Or if I want to see how I’m looking in a suit, the drone flies off, circles around you and shows you the footage of how you look.
Facial recognition could be used to tailor adverts to specific consumers, based on factors like sex, age and race. What uses are there for that in the UAE?
There has been a lot of interest from malls, property owners, large chain stores and even banking and finance services. It’s early days obviously — we have certainly just started the conversation in the UAE. And it seems to me that there is a very open heart to it. Innovation is certainly something that is top of mind for everyone, certainly retailers. The degree to which you use this technology is obviously dependent on how much value you can create for your customers. That’s always the limit. If you use it to be in the face of your customers — literally, in the sense of blasting messages at them — that’s the worst possible case scenario.
Like in Minority Report?
Exactly. That’s what’s so scary about this technology. But I always see technology not as a Big Brother, but as a big sister — very friendly, welcoming, engaged, and actively serving you to the best of its ability. And that comes with spending time thinking about user experience and design, before you decide which technology would be best.
You spoke recently in Dubai about “creative technology”. What does that actually mean?
Creative technology is giving creative people a new tool to express their ideas. In the old days if you talked to an agency or a creative director, they would think film, ads, billboards, strap lines and cute photography. Now there’s another tool which is technology. I can create experiences, interactive capabilities and immersive virtual reality environments.
What examples are there of creative technology in use?
One example is the Nivea Sun Kids protection ads in Brazil, an insertion in a magazine with a coin-like device you could rip from the page and wrap around your kid’s wrist. You could sync it with your mobile phone and if the child ran, say, more than 50 yards from you, your phone would start to beep and alert you. The advertisement was about protecting your kids with sunscreen. But it was providing the user a utility that was about the brand story — of about protecting your kids.
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