An Intel spokeswoman confirmed to the TechCrunch website that the acquisition is part of Intel's ongoing development of its digital signage strategy. The companies have an already existing relationship with Cognovision partnering with Intel demo how processors are used in Digital Signage applications.

CognoVision's software uses cameras to track the faces of people looking at digital signage. The system can then provider an advertiser with the analytics of how many people looked at their display, how long they engaged for, the number of people who just walked by, and whether your audience is mostly male or female, mostly young or old. It sounds like something out of Minority Report, but Cognovision also does it in a way that protects user privacy.

The Intel acquisition of CognoVision comes on the back of big money spending on the acquisition of smartphone chipmaker Infineon for $1.4 billion and McAfee for $8 billion.