DigIn! Media

CES 2012: Augmented Reality Steps into Toys

by Limor Schafman

Toys and games for kids have become that much more exciting now that interactivity and augmented reality are joining the fore of how children can play and learn.  

There were three examples at CES that are worth noting.  First, during the Microsoft keynote by Steve Ballmer, the Kinect was showcased through a partnership with Sesame Workshop in creating Kinect Sesame Street TV.  Microsoft is taking current TV programming and turning them into interactive experiences - partially streaming video; partially interactive video game - all with the intention of keeping children engaged while learning. (Note: thank you to GameSpot for this video).  In the video you will see the learning component, coupled with the interactive participation of voice and gesture enabled through the Kinect with Sesame Street characters reacting to viewer actions and responding immediately depending on what the viewer - shall we call them now players/actors/active learners do.

         

CES 2012: Do Food and Advertising Mix?

by Limor Schafman

We've all heard of pop up restaurants being done by famous chefs and haute design food encounters created by the likes of David Rockwell (Nobu around the world). Foodies love it when the pairing of food and design come together.  How about when the design is digital, produced by projection, allows for games and interactive location based fact finding right there at table top and advertisers can buy your table for you and even top themselves up on the menu list if they pay enough.

 

That is what Inamo and their restaurant chain offers.  

2D/QR Codes Pave the Way to Consumer Focused Augmented Reality

by Limor Schafman

One of the interesting things about this year's CES was the arrival of technologies long in the works and now ready for consumer use. Such is the case with Augmented Reality.  All the rage in marketing and advertising circles, augmented reality, the use of digital interfaces or other extra-experiential mechanisms or story telling tools to bring an enhanced experiences to a given situation, is starting to show up increasingly in the consumer world.

  Now, we've been seeing the use of 2D, also known as QR, codes for some time in some one-time-only oriented advertising by brands, on magazines, coke cans and bus stop posters.  And the uses have been pretty cool.  Now we are seeing a resurgence and we will be seeing greater ubiquity in usage.  Hallmark cards will be releasing a special brand of card using 2D codes. I have not yet heard what will be the augmented part of the experience (if you go to the Sobel Media event tomorrow morning and learn more, do tell), but the very fact that a name brand is taking 2D codes and making in part of a card found in any store, is a commentary of how accessible the technology is now.

   Intel, interestingly enough at CES, was showing off its new i5 core processor with an augmented reality display.  As you will see in this video, they chose to use Esquire's December issue with Robert Downey Jr. as an example of technology requiring enough processing power to use their new chip. 

To get the full effect of what is happening with the AR, check out this video by Esquire on the December issue:

I have to say that I was not buying that this could only be done with the new Intel chip. Nevertheless, it is nice to finally see technology which was showcased 10 years ago at Siggraph and which I saw also demoed at the University of Washington Human Interface Technology Lab at that time, finally hit the mass market.

Taking this one step further, tonight, at the Disruptathon event in Tysons Corner, VA, I saw another level of 2D code use.  Until this point, we have been seeing 2D codes that are all the same, thus featuring the same media - very creatively, but still a mass production. Ven Chava of AirArts has taken this to the next level with his company's TalkingTag products. With patent pending technology, Chava has created a system for producing unique 2D codes which then allow for very personalized use of the codes to create UGC media as an augmentation to whatever you want to stick a tag onto.  This enables voice, photos, video and other data of ones own making to be added to anything that has this unique identifier - like a post note or notebook page.  All you need is an iPhone or Windows Mobile phone. Take a look at this video interview with Chava to hear more in his own words:

Take TalkingTag's technology and put the tags on Hallmark cards and you have a whole other level of personalized greetings. On the simple level think what this could mean to direct mail, books, magazine and newspaper articles.  Add the TalkingTag fingerprint-style uniqueness and imagine how cool it would be if we could embed 2D codes in a tweet and other social media communications.  Configure a photo with a 2D embedded watermark and add vocal commentary or any other additional media.  As you can see, I think Chava is on to something quite big.  Check out the TalkingTag store for products with which you can create your own augmented reality experiences.

Now if you want to hear more about Esquire and from some of the thought leaders in this area, walk fast and be ready to stand at the SobelMedia Augmented Reality panel breakfast taking place at the Samsung Experience Store in the Time Warner Building in NYC tomorrow, Thursday morning.  Come bright and early at 7:30am to hear from David Curcurcito, Creative Director for Esquire; David Polinchock, founder of the Brand Experience Lab [with whom I saw the first iterations of this technology at Siggraph oh so long ago]; Doug Dimon, Creative Director/Broadcast Design at Creative Bubble/NYC and Adam Broitman, Ringleader of Circ.us.  And with digital media visionary, Richard Carey, as moderator.

I'm always interested in hearing more about cool uses of 2D codes and experiences and explorations into augmented reality.  So please do write in and send links to cool things we should take a look at.

Twitter - Conferences - Culture: Not Everyone is a Total Tweeter

by Limor Schafman

I was just at two conferences in the past week that really showed different cultural takes on Twitter.  The first was the We Media Conference which took place in Miami.  Granted, the conference was by and for people in the media industry.  Laptops were on laps at all times and fingers were a flying.  Eyes were on the screens more than on the speakers. TweetDeck was the browser of choice from my over the shoulder observations, and We Media scored #1 and #2 on the days of the conference in the Twitter rankings.

Next I flew to Tel Aviv for the ISOC-IL (Internet Society of Israel) Conference.  Cloud computing, video games, virtual worlds, IPv6, mobile web where some of the topics covered.  Clearly a country and audience that is highly tech savvy.  But what did I see?  Several (but not everyone) with laptops, and I was one of the few twittering about the conference - habits are hard to break. What was everyone else doing?  Shockingly, they were fully focused on the speakers, listening avidly and actively participating with their presence and attention in the session.  I have to tell you, the "feeling" of the conference sessions was completely different.  They felt grounded and focused, rather than the "there but not fully there" feeling I often get and have myself at conferences and gathering b/c I am tweeting or checking email or texting or...  Speaking to the organizers, they had a tweet local and tried to get attendees to do it, but the attendees were not interested. 

I don't know why this cultural difference exists?  Israelis are as much on Twitter and Facebook and LinkedIn and MySpace as any Americans.  But the attention was different.

If you have clues as to why - would love to hear them.

Other notes on Twitter:  check out Julia Angwin's WSJ article on How to Twitter which is a good primer on using Twitter and loved the Jon Stewart Twitter Frenzy video.

Verizon Knawing Off Hand That Feeds It With 3 Cent MT Fee Increase

by Limor Schafman

Those of us in the marketing, branding, mobile, content business are delighted that text messaging is outpacing voice in usage numbers.  But wait!  It seems a company wants to bank on this at a time when "banking" is getting a bad name.  Verizon has decided to increase its MT transaction fees by 3 cents per transaction for all content owners.

Bottom line on what this means: "It will kill most people's business - this will have huge imact!", says Terry  Hsiao of HookMobile, an MMS aggregator. 

Why this dramatic statement?  There are two levels of SMS/MMS messages - one is MO or "mobile originated" message which is when you or I, consumers, send messages out from our mobile phones.  We pay for these through our text messaging plans or per message.  MT or "mobile termination" messages are those that come from content owners.  These are paid for by the content owner.  The rates they pay depend on the aggregator they work with and the fees those aggregators charge, often sliding scale per volume of messages.

Verizon is suggesting that as of November 1, each single MT message will cost at least 3 cents, on top of the usual charges they and the aggregators charge.  The bottom line cost impact is enormous both on content owners and the mobile marketing ecosystem as a whole.  Some of the companies which will be affected:
- Advertiser or brand companies that use SMS/MMS to targets and communicate its offerings: Coca Cola, Target, Ikea, etc.
- Banks doing mobile reminders or other customer contact transactions
- Political campaigns pushing messages out to constituents
- News, sports, horoscope and other similar types of content owners [note: these are some of the most successful uses of text messaging]
- Social Networks like Facebook, Twitter

Fundamentally, any company trying to build brand connectivity, invite transactions or provide customer service to their consumers will be penalized by this rate increase.

What are some of the market implications:
- Mobile marketing as we know it will shift.  SMS is currently the most advanced form of mobile marketing - it may diminish significantly as a medium, disappear, or used only when customers will perceive a real value in the message being delivered to them [ie a bill payment alert].
The mobile marketing landscape may change as a result with other forms such as WAP or client based applications taking a lead. There are significant negatives to both these forms that do not compare with SMS for certain functionality so they do not fully fill the void of diminished SMS messages.
- Content owners will push the price increase to consumers.  Consumers may agree to this if they see value, as written above, but otherwise, consumers will be forced to pay more for text and the question is, will they want to do this?  And for receiving advertising messages? 
- Content owners will diminish the amount of mobile marketing they do.
- Content owners which have smaller revenue potential will go out of business [ring tone companies].
- Advertising companies focusing on helping companies do mobile marketing will see a significant decrease in campaigns and revenue.
- Consumers may ultimately not receive the services and content they now expect.

Rumor has it that AT&T is considering raising MT message costs by 1 cent.  Has the cost of delivering MT increased.  I think not.  This move to increase fees is a taking an overreaching  advantage of a market phenomenon of exponential increase in text messaging and of a just budding mobile advertising marketplace to - effectively - kill it off.

Maybe it is Verizon's gambit to create such an outcry that when they lower the MT fee increase to 1 cent or half a cent, the content owners will be grateful and buy into it more readily. 

Whatever the reason, Verizon,  is gnawing, ripping into, and stripping the hands that are feeding its network and hurting the companies attached to those hands as well.  The market will respond - and I hope it will use its power - particularly that possessed by the large content owners [banks and brands] - to tell Verizon "No!" in no uncertain terms.

If your company is in this ecosystem, speak out loud and strong.

p.s. - if Verizon pursues this increase - this will be a huge opportunity for other carriers who do not do an increase to grab significant marketing and advertising dollars, content dollars and new consumers.