Stop the presses.
Microsoft finally produce a good advert for a great product!
Credit were credit is due I think, Kinect is pretty amazing (it sold twice as fast as the iPod when launched) and since being hacked is being used for some amazing things way out of the gaming sphere.
Check out kinecthacks.net to see how people are pushing the technology.
Nice behind the scenes video from The Mill NY. Mill Touch shows the creation of their interactive multi-touch, smart glass display showcasing The Mill’s body of work. Located in The Mill’s NY office it’s sure to impress clients.
I have just been watching this demo of the new Windows 8 OS. Very, very interesting indeed!
This is a momentous departure from what we regard (and are familiar with) as a standard OS and really shows the influence of visual gesture driven multi touch interfaces and mobile platforms.
I can now see why Microsoft put out the press release earlier on in the year saying they were going to run the next generation OS on mobile chip technology.
It will be interesting to compare Windows 8 with Apple Lion when it is released this summer. As we know from the limited press releases they are taking their best thinking from the iPad and bringing it all to the Mac.
As I have stated in previous posts I along with most of the industry are working on research and future thought pieces on the development of mobile platform devices, the future of apps & websites, Transmedia thinking, human behaviour patterns etc. These are very exciting times for all things digital.
Lots of what I have been predicting and talking to various people about is now starting to fall into place. So it’s nice to know I don’t talk bollocks all the time!
Great digital evolution of the humble car brochure. Executed as an app (for iPhone and Android) that recognises traffic signs and transforms them into features of the new Punto Evo.
Take a picture of a regular road sign and the app recognises the sign if it was a QR code, it then associates each sign with a feature of the car directly related to that sign. The app also doubled up as a game where the user could find and win hidden prizes.
If you can get over the really cheesy voiceover it’s a nice idea!
A very nice infographic to start the week off!
I have discussed the rise of mobile platforms before on this blog (A mobile future) and this infographic takes a look at all the major digital networks and their current mobile user base. View more from JESS3 the original creators.
I have been researching mobile platform penetration for a couple of projects and pitches I have recently been working on. This also forms part of a series of future thought pieces I am creating concerning the development of the online experience that is evolving beyond the notion of a web site or single destination to include multiple touchpoints.
Here’s a couple of interesting points I have recently found:
• According to eMarketer the tablet market will grow 400% by 2012
• Mobile internet devices out sold computers in 2009 by 144 million units*
• It is predicted by 2012 more smartphones will be shipped than PC’s
• There are around 650 million 3G/3.5G subscribers worldwide**
• By 2013, people using their mobile device to search the Internet will overtake desktop Internet users for the first time
What does this mean?
Well, as consumers continue to expand their media consumption across a variety of devices and platforms marketers and advertisers will need to rethink measurement approaches and marketing strategies in order to engage with different audiences and deliver on their needs and behaviours.
* Source: Gartner, Jan 2010. Information week Dec 2009.
** Source: ChinaCCM.com
Quite simply a really nice idea well executed.
The idea is still king, we shouldn’t forget this.
Credit for find must go to @bohellberg
Incredible Tron Legacy blog post from Josh Nimoy aka jtnimoy giving an insight into the technologies, programming and processing techniques behind the effects for the feature film. Josh is obviously incredibly talented and far too clever for his own good! he’s using OpenFrameworks, wxWidgets, writing particle renderers and physics simulators and a lot more.
I love the in-depth approach and conscious effort right from concept stage to make the effects as real and appropriate for the film setting as possible “We were trying to create fireworks that looked enough like real fireworks but had interesting techno-aesthetic. As a homage to the original Tron character Bit, we used icosahedrons, dodecahedrons, and similar”!
His other work is just as impressive, take a bit of time out to check out jtnimoy.net.
I found this really nice blog post on fastcodesign exploring and explaining the creative process behind the ‘face’ of IBM’s supercomputer Watson.
Watson recently featured on US quiz show Jeopardy, in one of the latest installments of the Human v Computer battles. IBM hired renowned digital artist/designer/technologist Joshua Davis to create a visual avatar for Watson.
The video in the blog is a great insight to the creative process and final visual execution.
Ever wondered how on earth some projects have been created?
If you’re a creative, designer, developer or techy working in one of the many creative disciplines then no doubt you will spend a good deal of your time researching campaigns, sites, virals, social media etc from your peers, competitors and rivals.
In my experience of working in agencies there are normally two responses to viewing other peoples work. The first and most common (if creatives and designers are involved) is unfortunately to go straight for the jugular and start pointing out flaws, describe in detail how badly it’s been executed, wonder if they didn’t have the budget to finish it or explain how you would have done it differently and obviously better.
The other response is to sit in awe, to call colleagues over, send an email and to say under your breath “I wish I’d thought of that” or “how on earth have they done that?”.
North Kingdom frequently fall into the latter category, they appear to have won just about every major award possible and now they’re giving everyone an insight into how much work they put into their projects. They’re obviously working with considerable budgets but there is no denying the amount of work and detail that is executed at every level.
If you have a bit of time to kill then I suggest you give their site a visit and have a good study of the behind the scenes.
Recently I’ve blogged a lot more about mobile devices, software, apps and in particular gesture driven technology and interfaces.
I am a fully signed up fan, champion and user of these devices and spend more time than is healthy researching and future thinking how all of these converging technologies and platforms will change what we currently perceive as digital.
All major hardware and software companies are now developing for mobile devices and the market is expanding at an incredible rate. You obviously have Apple with the iPad and Samsung with the Galaxy but both Blackberry and Microsoft are now taking serious considered steps into the tablet arena, and we know how much market share these brands currently enjoy.
MIcrosoft partnering with Samsung have developed the Surface technology into a very powerful platform. Microsoft also recently signed a deal with ARM and demonstrated it’s Windows OS running on ARM mobile chips.
Apple are taking the best elements of their iPhone and iPad OS and interface and integrating them into their latest Mac OS X Lion operating system. We also know how copied Apple are so expect other brands to follow (cue Microsoft).
There are lots of developments behind the scenes too, the likes of Google with the development and merger of AdWords and Analytics, Apple also introduced the iAd platform and with these developments brands will find more clever and innovative ways of connecting to audiences and consumers.
So what does this mean for the end user?
Well if you couple the above (which is only scratching at the surface of what’s happening) with the advances in browser standards, HTML 5, WOFF, JS, etc then websites will go through a huge change in the next 2-5 years. This will be prompted both by technology advancement and user experience and behaviour patterns.
Make no mistake this is already happening! The debate on Web ‘v’ Internet currently rages.
Get ready, the future of digital is changing right before your eyes.
Post Digital? – Rubbish.
The digital ramblings of John Randle, who is Head of Design at a digital marketing agency based in London, UK.
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