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.

         

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.

Virtual Worlds, MMOGs, Video Games & The Law: Tips on How to Avoid a Real World Lawsuit

by Limor Schafman

You may think, upon reading this title, “What on earth does the law have to do with virtual worlds, MMOGs and video games?”  The answer will astonish you.  I am not even referring to Intellectual Property law, contracts, software licenses or the like.  I am talking about how Federal regulators, like the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Department of Commerce, and Congress reach in to virtual worlds and have direct impact on the design, play, interactivity, and relationship with the consumer.

This past week, I asked James Dunstan, Partner of Garvey Schubert and Barer to come on my DigIn! Radio show to discuss what game designers, developers and publishers need to watch out for and how to prepare to meet Federal requirements.  Jim spoke at our Games Gateway serious games meetup  in DC two weeks ago and I knew this knowledge needed to be shared with a broader audience.  (I will use the term “virtual worlds” in this post as a short hand for the different categories of online game play we are discussing here.)

The first thing to know about virtual worlds is that, in fact, they are worlds unto themselves.  Some visitors/consumers/gamers think that they can do whatever they want in this alternative universe.  That no laws apply to them.  However, just as one enters a private real alternative world like Disneyland, there are rules that govern that space.  And the rules are developed by the owners of that virtual world, the game developers and publishers.  In virtual worlds, End User License Agreements, (EULAs), Terms of Service and Codes of Conduct are the constitution and laws by which players/consumers need to abide.

This means that these laws have to be clear, thorough, and read by the players.  This ensures that players know what they can and cannot do, and the companies involved in the game development (including third party developers and technology contributors) and publication are protected.

Let’s take a look at a few of these documents.

End User License Agreements are those annoying multipage scrolls of text that stand between the player and the game play and which, as a result, players usually do not bother to read, quickly check the “Read and Agreed” box and move on to entering that world.  These agreements are key documents that define the world and protect the creators of it.  Their main objective is to limit vendor liability and push behavioral obligations to the players.  They include the “Thou Shall Not Unless You Want to be Excised from This World” lists.  For example, Gold Farming, the collection of in-game valuables or building up of avatar characters for RMTs (real money transactions) is not permitted in some worlds.  (Note: Some worlds do permit this.  This is up to you, the game designer.)   If a player does this contrary to the EULA, the player’s account can be closed, all value and characters lost, and etc.

EULAs need to be internally consistent.  There can be no arbitrariness in their construction or in their enforcement.  As a game designer, you do not want to paste together a number of paragraphs you have grabbed from different sites.  There needs to be real meaning behind what you are writing and relevance to the world you are creating.  Also, enforcement must be consistent or this can be used against you in court.

Terms of Service Agreements inform players of what they can expect from their experience and what you will do to protect them.  Again, these agreements are meant protect both parties – the developers and the players - in this world.

EULA’s, Terms of Service and Codes of Conduct agreements are the internal rules of expectations, behavior and conduct as defined by the game developer and publisher.  Now we turn to some examples of how external Federal regulators impact games.

Congress passed the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) in 1998 and handed implementation and enforcement authority to the Federal Trade Commission.  COPPA prevents the collection of Personally Identifiable Information (PII) from children under the age of 13 without prior consent of a parent or legal guardian. What this means changes over time, so developers always have to stay apprised of the latest interpretations that will affect their user interface and back end design.  Age verification is up to the good faith judgment of the designer, but you can’t adopt practices that encourage children under 13 to lie about their age.  For example, just having a check box saying that a person is not 13 or younger is insufficient.  The FTC also considers it a violation of COPPA to allow a subscriber to use the “back” button to change their age when it becomes apparent that having admitted to being under 13 now restricts access to all or part of a website or virtual world.  The FTC is serious about enforcing COPPA, and just this week Sony Music was sued this week for failing to get parental consent on hundreds of its websites before acquiring PII from the children.  As a result Sony will pay a $1M fine (or $33 per registered user).  An expensive oversight.

What could have been done to avoid this cost?  There are several organizations like the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) that will review a website to certify that it is COPPA Compliant.  The service costs $20,000 on average.  A hell of a lot cheaper than a cool million.

CALEA, the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act, passed in 1994 and enforced by the FCC, avails wiretapping privileges of telecommunications carriers to Federal law enforcement agencies.  It applies to online game play that uses live chat, or in any way uses a system,third party or developed specifically for the game, which interconnects with a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN).  This means that if the telecommunications system deployed behind the scenes in a game in any way can be used for other than computer to computer Internet connectivity, whether for that game or because the provider offers that service in general (i.e., VOIP and cell calls), then the game is subject to CALEA and developers must plan accordingly.

Though this has never been called to bear as far as we know, as a developer and publisher you need to make sure your hardware is CALEA compliant (most of today’s routers are) and your software doesn’t impede wiretaps; designate a 24/7 contact person in your company to interface with law enforcement agencies; file a continually updated System Security Integrity Plan (SSIP) with the FCC and Department of Homeland Security; and read carefully your agreement with the VOIP provider to pass on as many obligations and related costs (like the compliance and 24/7 contact person) to them.  One point Jim stressed is to be sure that you don’t become a VOIP service provided.  One virtual world he was working with wanted to enable calls to be made from that world to friends over a landline.  This immediately subjects a company to further Federal requirements like E911 and costs such as the Universal Service Fund which demands ~10% of gross revenues as payment to the government.  A steep price to pay for “cool” interactivity.

How much does all this preparation for working within Federal regulations cost?  Approximately $100,000 or 5% of the game development budget.  This includes the legal work, filings, training of security IT staff, and related customer service.  It may seem like a lot, but compared to some of the numbers discussed above, it sounds reasonable.

We didn’t even touch on European Union regulations, encryption, or privacy related requirements, so I know we will be having Jim back.  

To hear Jim in his own words, please visit the show site for streams and downloads at DigIn! Radio or download the show off iTunes. And you can find him at Garvey Schubert Barer.

 

 

 

NYC Goes Into Digital Hyperdrive This Week

by Limor Schafman (Twitter: limors)

This week New York City goes full force into Digital Media with numerous events taking place over the course of the next ten days.  First, we have Internet Week.  Having over 50 events across the city with participating companies, Internet Week promises to cover numerous topics from Advertising2.0 by Digital Hollywood, to content on the web, to cryptography to the how-to of Internet Startups, and more. 

Kicking Internet Week off is the NY:MIEG breakfast which I have the privilege of moderating. We have the exciting topic of "Shifting the Paradigm: Young Women Making a Difference in Digital Media and Beyond."  We will discuss the latest trends in digital media that these young women are observing, what it means to be a woman in these new content and industry arena, what women want from digital media, and what the future holds for us as consumers and producers in this ever-changing industry.  On the panel we have Natali Del Conte - Senior Editor of CNET TV, Allison Mooney - Sr. Director of Mobile Insights for The Next Great Thing of Fleishman-Hillard, Kelly Hefner - Executive Producer at We.TV, Mindy Spire - Director of Sales Development for World Wrestling Entertainment, and Romina Rosado, Global Head of Marketing for The NewsMarket.

Also this week, we have NANOG - North American Network Operator's Group - at the New York Marriott Brooklyn Bridge covering best practices and new technologies for wireless and wireline networks.

Games for Change is taking place at the Parson The New School For Design.  The three day conference covers the latest in serious games for social change, funding, design and other topics.

The week of interactivity continues into the weekend with Come Out And Play 2008, which is a city wide gaming experience of playing games of various types, some digital some not, around the city.

NYC is always an exciting city and this week it outdoes itself for all us lovers of the next generation of connection, community and interaction.  Hope to see you around the city!

Women Speak Out on Digital Media and Entrepreneurship

NY:MIEG, the New York Media Information Exchange Group, founded and lead by Bill Sobel this Tuesday held a panel discussion entitled "Where the Dollar$ are: Creating, Producing & Monetizing Media Content for Women."  Moderated by Denise Oliver, Kathy Jones of Synchronis.tv, Fran Pomerantz of Korn/Ferry, Andrea Syrtash of On Dating, Marion Freijsen of eFactor and myself, Limor Schafman discussed on a wide ranging number of topics.  We explored why we don't see more women in CEO positions, what content women want to see in digital media, what this new explosive medium means for women and their ability to communicate and create, resources available to women entrepreneurs, what makes good content, and what the opportunities are for businesses developed by and for women in the digital media medium. 

Spicing things up a bit, I talked about gaming and sex. Some interesting stats out there.  To hear them, check this out:

3 Minute Ad Age

 

Sex and the Female Game Player Demographic, Friday March 28, 2008 Video Report

I'll post the full video of the event when it comes available.  Yes, I'm biased but it was amazing being up there with a group of business women and artistic talent that are experienced, creative and know how to conduct smart business.  Out of the session, the group was motivated to start a woman's NY:MIEG, so keep an eye on that site as well for future developments.

CES 2008 - Cool Stuff Part 4 - Real Life Virtual Interactivity

Now what on earth do I mean by that title.  Well Paul Ortellini of Intel went on to bring out a combination of some fun technologies that together create an immediately accessible interactive virtual experience.

He started with Alan  J. Gluekman of eJamming.  This online music portal enables musicians of all types to come together in a social networking environment and collaborate, share and perform music.  What is super cool about eJamming is that musicians can play in real time through the Internet with each other.  Steve Harwell, lead singer for Smash Mouth got the audience clapping demonstrating this.  Then they added the technology of Big Stage, which will launch officially in Q2 of 2008, which lets users create 3D avatars of themselves in about 5 minutes.  Just take three digital pictures of your face, face on and in profile, load it up and in a couple of minutes you have a hairless version of your face.  Dress that up anyway you want and you're good to go.

Next they added a virtual garage soundstage by Virtual Heroes, a virtual worlds/simulation/serious games developer.  On this virtual soundstage, all the members of the Smash Mouth were shown in avatar form ready to play together.  Add Organic Motion, which has created a commercial markerless motion capture system which simulates human vision, throwing out former computer vision approaches. 

Put them all together and you have a compelling, fun, alternative world experience in which you bring together people from different parts of the real world in avatar form to perform live in almost real time together in virtual space.  I can tell you it is worth checking out the video of the keynote from the CES site, off of eJamming or just search it on You Tube.  And keeping an eye on these companies.  Better yet - Go play and experience these techs for yourself!

 

CES 2008 - Cool Stuff Part 3 - Augmented Reality

Paul Otellini, President & CEO of Intel Corporation gave one of the most interesting keynotes at CES 2008.  I liked his speech so much because he showed the audience the interconnectivity between real and virtual.   

First, Ortellini and Craig showed a travelers handset that automatically syncs a traveler up to GPS based information and language translation.  Walk down a street in Beijing, point this mobile device at a street sign, and the English translation [if that is what you want] automatically shows up on the screen of the device floating in virtual space on top of the video picture of the actual street sign. Walk up to a restaurant sign and using Total Immersion technology [I can't find a link - someone please send info on this if you have it], enables the viewer to  get a translation of the name, see a translation of the menu, access the website, watch consumer reviews, all appearing as an overlay of the real video capture of the restaurant signage.     

Meet someone walking down the street who speaks a foreign language, just turn on your device, and use it reciprocally as your digital translator for real time speech2speech translation.  It both provides audio and the visual translation of what is being spoken/written.

Ortellini and Craig showed Everyscape as a means to see how to get to Intel's Beijing Kerry Center headquarters which requires walking through a maze of high end retail and office space.  This was a cool app in and of itself as a new way to show directions.  But the demo only scratched the surface of what Everyscape offers. You can create your own scapes if you go to Become a Scape Artist by using their tools to embed websites, images, tags etc in your own visual landscape.  Very cool and worth checking out.  Whether used for business or consumer purposes, Ortellini sees this technology as building an ecosystem for new business models.

While still "visiting" China, Intel showed an augmented reality avatar travel guide in the form of a terracotta warrior who describes through audio the history of the location where the visitor stands, still on the handheld mobile device.

Ortellini foresees all rich media found on the Internet flowing through mobile Internet devices (MIDs) and ultra mobile PCs (UMPCs).  With that in mind, Intel has created Menlow as a platform that will manage and deliver Internet experience to these devices.  I venture to say that the thinking that needs to happen is not to put the Internet as we think of it today on a mobile device, but to think about the experience that mobile device user wants to have and create the platform, system, device, media, etc. that will meet those needs.  I am hopeful this is what Intel and others have in mind.  Ortellini spoke of the improved user experience and interface, using not only better design, but also technologies that are now coming to a level ripe for widespread consumer usability such as gesture technology, facial reading technology, audio commands, and others.  The fact that these capabilities will require better, faster, cooler chips hence continuing the Intel lifespan goes without saying.  Ortellini didn't stop there either.  More cool stuff to follow in the next post...

    
 

CES 2008 - Cool Stuff Part 2 - 3D Optics

Parties at CES are always fun, and the one put on by Kerner Optical to promote their Spectron-iq 3D technology was no exception.  Yeah - the people were fun and the Hard Rock Casino a great place to lose money, but it was the tech that amazed. 

3D optics has always fascinated me and I've watched the tech develop over the years.  Spectron iq 3D REALLY looks good.  Glasses are needed for good viewing, as you see me here with my pal David, but you can actually walk around and simply use them as cool shades without bumping into things.  The 3D depth goes back into the screen significantly.  Spectron already has several films that can be viewed with this new technology as well as several games.  From what I could see, a particular type of camera, projector and screen are needed to create this effect.  Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D with Brendan Fraser set to release in July of this year has been filmed specifically to be viewed on 3D screens and Spectron was showing the film on a large screen at the party.   It looked great within a certain aspect ratio.  When too close or too far to the side [made me think of how many seats in a theater house will not be usable for this technology depending on screen to audience distance] the crisp 3D image and its depth fidelity were diminished. 

I had trouble telling which markets Spectron is aiming for: gaming - great, but how much will these screens cost, how big is that hard core gaming market that will pay the price; theaters - I'm looking forward to the experience, but how many cinema houses will be willing to convert a room to have the needed screen and projector.  One thing I did hear consistently from party goers - Spectron had said they would have a 3D screen at CES 2007 ready for sale and they in fact hit their target date.   Rumor has it the company big bucks and good ties to Hollywood behind it.  I look forward to seeing what their market strategy is and how it pans out.   

Driving a Volvo in a Cinema - AudienceGames

One advergame I particularly like is a fully immersive on created by the Brand Experience Lab. With Carlton Screen Advertising, the BELab created an interactive advertising experience for the Volvo brand.  Linking theaters across England, they had cinema goers competing against one another across a connected network in real time. 

In talking to David Polinchock, head of Brand Experience Lab, he said it was incredible to see how quickly and completely a cinema audience got what was happening, understood what they needed to do, and enthusiastically participated.  After the experience, the buzz and connection among the players was unstoppable - and they were all talking about the VOLVO game.  I put that in capital letters because I am emphasizing that they were engaged and remembering the brand. 

Even more than this - because of this style of game and its novelty, Carlton estimates this program lead to 33M impressions across all media.  The press extended this story and the brand across media around the globe.  This AudienceGames program was named one of the 10 Best Marketing Ideas in the World [scroll down to "Wag the Car"], in Brandweek's December 10th 2007 publication.  To see the audience experience, visit the BeLab Blog and scroll down on this page to the You Tube link.

Increasingly, branding will become interactive.  Increasingly, the digital and real worlds will intermingle and interconnect.  Immersive, interactive, rich media, multi-medium, fixed and mobility, targeted to person time and space, individual and collective, social and personal.  This the the future of branding and advertising.  And DigIn! will continue to track these types of technologies. 

Advergaming: a powerful marketing tool if managed correctly

John O'Green, CEO of BOSSdev, has written a great article on advergaming entitled Top Things NOT to do in Advergaming. Advergaming, is the combination of advertising and branding into an interactive experience that engages consumers in an experience which helps them understand and buy a product and brand.  It has been proven repeatedly that when a consumer interacts in a fun and/or meaningful way with a brand, they are much more likely to remember it, like it, come back to it - assuming the interaction was in fact positive.

O'Green lists excellent points as to what to NOT do.  It is easy to get excited by the game, by its interactivity, its high end graphics and to forget its purpose.  It's purpose, ultimately, regardless of whether this tool is being used by a corporation selling pogo sticks or an advocacy group informing members about the need to recycle, is always to get consumers to participate in a call to action. To "buy" something.  So make the game engaging, but not for the sake of interactivity.  Produce a game effectively targeted to the audience you need, and stick to message.   And then promote the promotion, meaning promote the game.  Don't forget to put it in the hands of your target consumers.  O'Green goes on in depth.  It's worth a read.  And if you've got a good advergame, tell DigIn! about it.  We'll come play.