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"Avatar" movie and Coke Zero: Augmented reality, coming soon to a Coke can near you
Now that the super-animated almost-real movie Avatar is about to roll out (in theaters 12/18/09), here come the advertisers with spectacular new types of techno-toys to accompany the flick. For instance, if you hold a tricky Coke Zero can up to your webcam, it sprouts a controllable helicopter. Click the frame above to see a video of that. Hey, this looks like fun. This augmented reality (AR) juju will, be plastered on 140 million bottle-shaped cans, some 30 million fridge packs, as well as bags, bottles, popcorn bags and fountain drink cups.
You'll also be able to pick up a card at McDonald's that you hold in front of your webcam, and when you go to an Avatar-branded website, out pops an animation that looks like a real mechanical toy. There will be playable games associated with these controllable 3D animations, offered as bonuses with Big Macs and Happy Meals at the Micky-D fast feeder.
So that's what they mean by augmented reality. We've seen some crude AR before, first with a lame Best Buy ad, where if you held the company's brochure up to your webcam you could move around a 3D laptop. But this goes way beyond that. Whether it sells more big Macs or Coca-Cola, or makes more people go to James Cameron's film remains to be seen. But just think of the possibilities for this augmented reality. Wow. Here's a video of the Avatar card:
via dvice.com
DIGITAL | Salt101.com from Carmichael Lynch via @amymiranda
With the focus on interactive leaning towards "easy up" functionality such as Wordpress, etc, and the "big high school crush" we all have on Twitter and Facebook its amazing to think that the well designed, well told microsite even makes it to a brief stage.
But I love when it does. Thanks to @amymiranda for the link
Murmur Study - an artistic representation of twitter
I'm fascinated by this installation by experimental media artist Christopher Baker. It's many things. But in short, it's a visualisation, an archive of tweets, status updates, or if you like, the digital small talk of micromessaging technologies like Twitter.
Each roll picks up and prints messages that resemble human utterances such as eww, grr, argh, hmph. They stream endlessly, piling up on the floor, in tangled heaps below.
It's purpose is to represent the way these utterances we make - emotional or otherwise - are accumulated, monitored and stored by corporations.
Murmur Study was created in collaboration with Márton András Juhász and the Kitchen Budapest.
Interesting also is the fact that before training in media arts, Christopher Baker was a scientist working to develop brain-computer interfaces at the University of Minnesota and UCLA. He's now the senior artist-in-residence at the Kitchen Budapest, an experimental media arts lab in Hungary.
In a statement on his website, Baker says
"I am energized by the diversity of human expression that continuously activates our vast communication networks....As technologists make daily promises to improve our lives by uniting these physical and digital worlds, I attempt to make work that examines the practical implications of our increasingly networked lifestyles"
A focus I think is incredibly important for us all .
What is Twitter and how are you using it?
Twitter is perhaps the most discussed of the social media platforms right now, attracting hundreds of column inches in the more traditional media. It’s hard to believe that a spat between a Twitter user and Stephen Fry would make the national news agenda. But it did. And many more Twitter stories do so, too. In fact, as the Guardian recently suggested, social networks, and Twitter in particular, are becoming the new ‘wire’ services for the mainstream media.
Other recent ‘Twitterstorms’ that have crossed over have included those relating to Trafigura, Jan Moir and AA Gill and then there was the exposure of the London Underground worker’s less than helpful customer service.
In terms of its impact, Twitter has caused its own storm and is spawning thousands of related applications. It expects to have 25 million users by the end of the year and businesses, and increasingly politicians, are switching on to how it might be used to engage with their publics.
So what exactly is Twitter and how are you using it? Is it a broadcast channel? A sales tool? The new press office? A source of gossip? A new way to engage with audiences to understand what they are really thinking? A customer service channel? The truth is that it is all of these things and more. Twitter is anything you want it to be. And that’s why it’s so important to your business. How do you use it?
Want a conversation? Need help working out a best course of action? Get in touch and let’s talk it through together.
Twitter: www.twitter.com/junctionpr (@junctionpr)
Web: www.junctionpr.com
Michael Jackson auf der Flucht.
Oder wer ist das sonst, der da in Canabalt über die Häuser springt!?!?
Jump & Run 2.0.
Canabalt: The game everyone is talking about right now. Available for iPhone.
Click here to play.
(Is ist just me - or does anyone else think that's Michael Jackson?!)
Media player lets you interact with digital media using physical objects.
via vimeo.com
Skål is Norwegian for bowl and is pronounced [sko:l]. This [wooden] bowl sits on the table and a range of physical objects can be placed in it. When an object is placed in the bowl related media is played back on the TV. Skål lets you control all kinds of digital media; movie-clips, YouTube channels, Flickr photo streams, home videos, online radio and more.
I can see Nintendo jumping on technology like this...think about the Wii...
vDSLRs: So who forgot the articulated screens, then?
It can't be a matter simple stupidity or a lack of intelligence, but someone in the R&D deptartment of Canon, Nikon, Pentax etc must have forgotten to build in articulated LCD screens to the new generation DSLRs with HD video capability. Shooting video often requires low angle shots and the ability to frame the subject whilst holding the camera close to the floor and looking into an upturned screen is what I would term a basic requirement.
Some "consumer" vDSLRs have them (Nikon D5000 etc) but why not the more up-market models? Fuji and Panasonic have shown that it's hardly difficult to engineer, and can't add greatly to the cost. Do the manufacturers think we're unusually supple and can contort our bodies into positions they're not made for? Because that's pretty much the only option (other than guessing) to frame a low angle shot. With photography it's a little different, and guessing is a fair option, as several shots can be quickly taken in quick succession, but with video? No, something's definitely wrong. And if you think it's me that's wrong, then just consider this: there's not a modern dedicated video camera in the world, be it consumer or professional, that doesn't have a vari-angle LCD screen.
The only reason I can think of, is that the manufacturers of the DSLR division have been told in no uncertain terms that if they make them too attractive to the customer, with too many video features, then they won't sell many of the dedicated video cameras produced by the video division. Internal politics, with the consumer coming off worst, as usual. Well take note Mr Manufacturer, the days of the video cam are coming to an end, and as the customer demands greater flexibility, features, and device convergence, so you'll need to provide it in the form of very well specced and versatile vDSLRs — if not, you can be sure your competitor will.
