Virtual ads are the main event

TV advertising faces a major change with the use of 'virtual signage'. When the technology comes into full effect spectators at sporting events may not see the same adverts as a TV viewer in the home.

Fake signs will be placed behind real athletes in motion so before a sporting event, such as a game of football, a computer known as L-VIS will scan a wall where the advert can be placed. The computer then creates a digital canvas of the blank wall and stores it away in its memory. Once the game has started, L-VIS can recognise a blank wall and insert the advert.

Stig Carlson, director general at the European Association of Advertising Agencies explained that certain guidelines should be created to make sure that the viewer is informed if they are watching an unreal picture. He said: "The consumer must know that the picture has been altered, it's their right."

Carlson added that the main worry is that virtual advertising "will take over too much of the display screen".