I haven't been following this closely, but it appears that NEC has begun selling biometric technology systems to Japanese retailers that are interested in keeping track of customers. The systems combine cameras and specially designed software that can track the faces and upper torsos of customers moving through stores.
I don't know how they propose to handle the obvious privacy concerns these systems will raise, but from the point of view of retailers, the technology promises a multitude of useful applications. Not only can the systems automatically count the number of people entering and leaving, they should also be able to spot traffic patterns, identify new customers and track the behavior of people that have visited the shop previously.
