Yes folks – big brother’s advertising arm is watching.

Just when you thought iPhone and the Spyball were the height of today’s technology, out-of-home video advertisements served to a viewer based on their age and gender may soon be found in the gym, shopping centres or supermarkets around the world.

According to an Associated Press report, manufacturers are beginning to roll out video software that can determine a viewer’s gender to an accuracy of 85-90%, with TruMedia Technologies Inc. and Quividi being two developers unveiling systems that place a small camera within or near a video screen.

The software then identifies a viewer’s face by picking up shapes, colours and speed of movement. The system compares the shapes and patterns of viewers to faces that are already identified in a database to determine the gender.

The technology is still in the early stages, but is already has advertisers drooling over the possibility of knowing who looks at their video advertisements, with technology that could potentially have the ability to track reactions and responses of viewers.

Bill Ketcham, the CMO for US in-store video ad network Adspace Networks Inc., believes advertisers are much more likely to spend the $765,000 it costs for a 15-second spot with Adspace if they know who is seeing their ads, so the idea has great merits.