Since the arrival of the iPhone the touchscreen phone has gone from strength to strength. However, many people still don’t like the idea of pressing buttons that they can’t actually feel. The latest technology from Toshiba not only hopes to satisfy peoples’ desire to feel buttons, but hopes to take touch screen experiences to a whole new level.

The video above demonstrates a revolutionary screen that provides sensory feedback to a range of touch screen experiences. The technology known as a “New Sensation UI Solution” provides feedback without using mechanical vibration, but by controlling the electric charge on a film affixed to the touchpanel. This technology allows users to experience the feeling of real buttons to that of wood or stone on a flat screen.

The technology could allow for richer mobile experiences adding an extra element to gaming, or mobile shopping, perhaps allowing users to experience something like the feel of a new carpet before they buy online. At a simpler level feedback could improve the user experience for those who prefer the feel of a tactile keyboard, and allow people to use a touchscreen phone without them having to actually look at it.

Of course as with all new technology the key will be whether it will actually work as it is supposed to, and how people react. Should everything go to plan, the technology could have major implications for the way people use touchscreen devices in the future.

Source: DigInfo

People are sharing more and more information about their lives, Facebook tells us that there are more than 60 million status updates everyday, and more than 3 billion photos uploaded to the site each month. Furthermore, people are beginning to broadcast their location through services such as Foursquare and Google latitude. The rapid rise of sharing suggests people are becoming more comfortable sharing information and the latest social media platforms are letting users share more and more types of information.

Whereas most social sharing refers to past and current events, services such as Plancast are letting users share their plans for future events. Users can share plans they’ve made or plans they’re thinking of making. It’s much like an Outlook shared calendar service for your social life that you’ve shared with the world. Users are sharing their information to making planning social events easier.

The service currently has a small user base, but the concept could take off within other platforms. Before Facebook included status updates it was a minority activity on a small start up called twitter, since they added status updates it’s become a global phenomenon. If the likes of Facebook placed an emphasis on sharing plans then the sharing of social plans could become a major activity.

As well as providing valuable information to help people live their lives, social plan sharing could provide advertisers with a major opportunity should the concept take off.

All I need now is for some people to actually start using Plancast so I can’t sort my life out!

Image: Dier madrid

With more and more people using e-readers, and with the iPad just round the corner there could be a real role for this kind of technology.

By using eye tracking technology the text actually knows what your reading and can provide assitance or improve the experience based on this information.

Could be great within an education context.

Here’s the latest in mobile phone technology, the Samsung projector phone. It’s impressive enough that they have made a projector  so small, but they’ve also managed to get a fully functional phone in there as well. It certainly gives you something that you won’t find on your current iPhone or Blackberry, but although impressive do we actually need projectors in our mobiles?

Technology found in mobiles is only successful if people feel the need to use it regularly or at least want the technology to be permanently accessible. At present people might want to use a projector when they need to show images or video to a large group or when a particularly large image is desirable, at other times projecting an image might seem unnecessary. On the surface of it the vast majority of people don’t really need projectors on their phones, but then did people need to always have a camera with them before camera phones, or need the internet on the bus before the iPhone? They did not, but as technology became effortlessly accessible people started to use the technology, they found it offered new opportunities, this in turn lead to new behaviours which eventually let to a new standard. The new level of accessibility for projector technology could allow it to function in ways beyond it’s original (and static) purpose and uses, and it would be these uses that would make the projector an essential part of a mobile phone.

It’s hard to tell if people will embrace the projector as a mobile technology, whether it’s effortless accessibility will lead to new behaviours and a new mobile standard, but if they do the world might look like a very different place. Just imagine all the people playing loud music out their phone in public with the power to project what ever they want where ever they want, Samsung might just have a lot to answer for in the future!

News source: Electric Pig

In English Football there are 4 dominant teams, Man United, Chelsea, Liverpool, and Arsenal, collectively they’re known as ‘The Big 4′. Their dominance on the pitch is reflected in their level of support both in the UK and across the globe. The Premier League is a global phenomenon, millions of people across the world are football obsessed and loyal fans of their chosen Premier League team. But this support is nearly always given to a member of the big four, these fans might be able to tell you every player in the Man United squad, but will struggle to name more than a handful of players that reside outside ‘The Big Four’.

For years now clubs have being trying to break into the top 4, some have come close, but none have pushed anyone out of even made the big four into a big five. One of the most recent clubs to fancy their chances is Manchester City, and thanks to some rather well off new owners from Abu Dhabi they might just stand a chance. Man City are determined to become a major force in English and World football, and are doing everything they can to cement their place at the top. As well as splashing the cash on world class players, they’re using other methods off the pitch to ensure the club is perceived and supported like one of ‘The Big Four’.

While the players get on with their end of the bargain (with limited success so far), advertising and marketing agencies are working at convincing the world they are the real deal, and in turn gaining respect and support. Of course it is nothing new to see the influence of marketing on football, this is a sport where players can be almost primarily signed simply for their marketing potential. For better or for worse football became a business long ago, however, it is interesting to see how Man City are using new techniques in order to achieve their goals.

One of the most memorable campaigns was run at the start of the season after Man Utd player Carlos Tevez did the unthinkable and made the move across the city to fierce rivals Man City. Playing on the fact that United are based in Greater Manchester and not the City of Manchester, a poster was put up in the City of Tevez with the words ‘Welcome to Manchester’. In a similar vein City ran ads featuring their new signing Emmanuel Adebayor formerly of Arsenal in the days before the two clubs met. Both campaigns are clear and direct attacks on the competitors, in both a sporting and marketing sense. Although the attack might have had a limited effect in a sporting context (Utd did beat city in their next encounter), it gave football fans around the world a clear message of City’s intent and suggested they were directly taking power off the so called ‘Big 4′.

Man City are also making use of the digital channel to boost their support and reputation across the world. Thanks to top digital agency Poke they have one of the best club websites online. The professional and functional site helps represent the level of quality that City strive for, while various features and social media content allow the club to interact with fans new and old. Man City have seen the importance of their website while other have yet to understand the role it can play. Man City understand that the site is a window into the club for many fans, and they have ensure they provide their fans with an experience that is useful, enjoyable, and appears to be built around the fans needs opposed to the clubs. Although other clubs do have great sites, far too many of them offer very little content of real use, or appear to be built around the needs of anyone but the fans with an abundance of advertising and a limited supply of content that fans actually want.

Furthermore, Man City are creating some great video content to build support before major games. We are now used to the likes of Nike and Adidas creating content using players but it’s not often we see clubs creating such content. Thanks to the Internet this content can easy circulate the globe, and can build support by rousing the people of Manchester to get to the game, and also making people thousands of miles away to consider tuning into the Man City game opposed to the usual choice involving one of the big four. One of the latest pieces involves Craig Bellamy, and as with Tevez and Adebayor it will be pushed in the run up to the Man City game involving Bellamy’s former Big four club, who in this case is Liverpool. Incidentally the remaining big four club in need of build up material is Chelsea, Shaun Wright-Phillips is a possibility for the star, but I think people would love to see something from Wayne Bridge (if this means nothing to you read here).

We are still yet to see Man City perform like a top four team consistently on the pitch, but it appears that if they manage to break into those top four places they’ll have the backing to ensure that they can convert success on the pitch to success off it. What’s more it will be interesting to see how the big four react in the marketing area if Man City start stealing fans as well as points.

Here’s a nice bit of advertising technology that can be found in the back of taxis throughout Shanghai, China.

More than just a screen pushing ads, the interactive touch-screen device (or ipad as they’ll all be referred to as soon enough) gives the user something to do as they make their way across the city.

Reaching out to the audience in contexts where they have nothing better to do allows advertising to be seen as a welcome distraction opposed to an unwelcome interruption. New technology is allowing us to provide better experiences in such contexts. From TV screens above urinals to gaming at bus stops waiting has never been so much fun.

In the UK Hyundai is not a name that is readily associated with mobile phones. However, the brand known for it’s budget cars in the UK is a major mobile phone manufacturer in the East.

I saw this ad in China of a particularity interesting looking Hyundai mobile. Further investigation led me to find that it might not be long before Hyundai’s innovative looking line of mobiles hits the UK. It appears the mobiles are consistent with the brand values of modern technology at affordable prices.

It will be interesting to see how the brand perception changes in the UK with the release of Hyundai mobiles, perhaps helping to build the brand reputation as an innovator within the technological field.

Here’s a little picture of the toilet in my last hotel room that can be found across Japan. Some very interesting buttons and it was also a little odd to see a power cable going into the toilet seat!

Can’t see these appearing any time soon in the UK, more due to reasons related to the desire to use them rather than any lack of  technological knowledge. It’s just one of the many examples that show the importance of culture in any form of technological advancement.

With my current travels in mind I recently jumped on the netbook bandwagon and got myself a very nice little ASUS 1005.

It’s pretty good and it can do most things a normal laptop can, however, there are a few drawbacks when viewing the web. The annoying thing is most of these drawbacks can be easily avoided, the problem is people haven’t considered netbooks.

A few years ago this might have been excusable but now with netbook use so widespread (yes I can confirm it appears their use is widespread in Japan) people need to consider making their designs netbook friendly or having netbook versions when the the usual version is too big and the mobile version too small.

Thanks to these issues I’ve had to stop using Hootsuite to view twitter posts as I just can’t see enough on the screen. All they need to do is let me hide a few sections, but I can’t so Thwirl it is for now.

Unlike Steve Jobs I don’t think netbooks are going away any-time soon (they will one day, but not for a few years yet) so people best start considering them if they want to deliver a good web experience to their entire audience.

Image: jpm

The latest technology has opened up a whole new world of possibilities, and in turn these possibilities have brought with them new expectations. It doesn’t take us long to adjust to the benefits of new technology, and what starts out as a luxury or perhaps novelty can soon become a necessity.

Not many of us can live without the Internet or our mobiles, and soon the Internet on our mobiles. Furthermore, our expectations or not context specific,  when we experience a service in one context we expect it in another.

I had this experience not so long ago when I was searching Tesco supermarket for plastic cups (as you do). I had no idea where to look, and neither did any of the staff around me. Of course on the Internet I would simply do a search and find them in seconds. Furthermore, I knew that Tesco would have all the information stored on a system somewhere. 5 years ago I wouldn’t have been bothered, but the problem was with my iPhone in hand I new we had the technology to solve my problem.

It appears Tesco were well aware of the possibilities and the very next trip to Tesco I was able to use my iPhone to find my nearest store, instantly see what services they offered, and exactly where everything was. Good work by Tesco, however my feelings were (perhaps unfairly so) more of ‘about time’, than ‘great job’.

As peoples expectations change at the rate of technological advancement, it’s going to get harder to meet them and even harder to exceed them.

There’s a lot of hype around right now about the mobile service called foursquare. For those that don’t know foursquare is a location based social networking mobile application. The first element of Foursquare is a friend locator; it allows users to share and see the location of their friends that are also using the service (similar to Google Latitude), users can share their location (check in) by sending a text, or by logging into the application on a location aware handset such as the iPhone. The second element of foursquare is a city guide; it lets users rate and review places in their city, so others can use the application to help them explore their city. The third element to foursquare is a game; users are rewarded points for checking in outside of regular working hours, with more points gained when check ins are in different locations.

Foursquare is currently available in 20 cities in the US and Amsterdam, it is getting a lot of attention and lots of people are using it. Foursquare users love being able to see where their friends are, and learn more about their city, but perhaps surprisingly they are just as passionate about the third gaming element of the service. What might appear at first as a slightly trivial function that will get overlooked by the majority of users appears to be extremely popular and is likely to be the function that is driving it’s success. The success of social media services is entirely dependent on people using service and doing so regularity, Twitter and Facebook wouldn’t be much fun if no-one else was using them. What the game function of Foursquare has done is given people an incentive to make regular use of the service, it provides a competitive element, and a reliable measure of success. Foursquare points cannot actually be converted into any real currency, but the same human desire for respect and status that largely drives our desire for money (and with what it can buy) drives our desire to gain status points that money can’t buy.

Foursquare is not the only example of how ‘worthless’ points monetary speaking can drive participation. Microsoft Xbox users gain points for achievements they make across all their xbox activity, these points are then displayed as part of the players online profile. These points are essentially worthless, but it doesn’t stop users playing and buying games to earn more points, and trying to out do the people they know. Furthermore, if you look closely other less obvious examples exist. Take Facebook and Twitter, although neither explicitly has a game element both have been driven by competitive elements that have a reliable measure of success. A major drive for many Twitter users is to gain a large following, and many Facebook users are driven by the desire the have lots of ‘friends’ or upload as many pictures of themselves as possible.

Social media is largely driven by human competitiveness and desire for status, if people want to make a game out of social media make sure there is a game to be played, and as Foursquare and Xbox have taught us it doesn’t always hurt to tell them they’re playing.

Image: Roomjosh

Here’s my August Twitter round-up.

Using the power of Hootsuite here are the most clicked links from the Trendplanner Twitter account for August. For other useful Twitter links on similar themes, check out Qapture which collects links shared by various interesting people on Twitter.

1. Nike: “We don’t do advertising any more. We just do cool stuff” http://ow.ly/kGup

2. The Portable Social Graph – the next big thing in social marketing? http://ow.ly/j1he

3. What playing Poker can teach us about using Social Media – http://ow.ly/krqz

4. 41 Shockvertising Campaigns – From Deplorable PSP Posters to Powerful PETA Ads http://ow.ly/lmIo

5. First iPhone Augmented Reality App Gets Past Apple and Appears in the App Store – http://ow.ly/lmLS

6. Ebay wicked sick BMX – Does creativity work? http://ow.ly/jxaX

7. “Don’t make digital strategy a speciality, make it cost-of-entry to all planners”(via @benshaw) http://ow.ly/lxfj

8. Everything You Never Knew About Facebook – http://ow.ly/j2q1

9. Steve Jobs on why Apple doesn’t do market research – http://ow.ly/iyXN

10. 10 ways musicians are embracing digital – Not everyone is fighting change. http://ow.ly/loT9
Image: Wiselywoven

This demo has been available for viewing on the official Yellowbird site , however, it has  been taken down in preparation for the next set of examples. For those that missed it I thought I’d embed it above.

Yellowbird lets you watch video in a complete 360 degree view, that you control. Think of it like Google street view in video form.

Could this the be the future of video?

I’m not sure people will always want to control the view of the video they’re watching but I can imagine it would be perfect in many contexts. Hook this up to some motion sensor technology that knows where your face and eyes are pointing, add some 3D and it really will be just like being there.

When this technology becomes accessible to all, it could create a whole new genre of video, with a whole new way to capture the world around us. We might have the written word, the photo, the video and the 360 video, with the 360 video not actually taking any-things place but simply creating a whole new world of possibilities. In our digital world where we are sharing are experiences more and more through social media, this technology could really take things to another level.

Furthermore, at a professional level the technology will require a whole new set of skills, a whole new way of thinking, and many many opportunities. Imagine integrating the technology with live sport, viewers could see the main feed with others through a TV but perhaps they could have a personal 360 view via their laptop or mobile. Or perhaps even a feature length film being filmed using this technology, perhaps you watch the film as the director indented on first viewing and then in subsequent viewings you get to explore the film however you wish (of course this really would require a whole new way of filming).

Whether the technology takes off we’ll have to see, but it’s certainly another step forward in the world of consumer controlled media.

Update: It appears Yellowbird aren’t the only people developing 360 video technology, another company called Immersive Media has also been developing the technology. Check out their website for some more amazing 360 video examples.

Currently much of the music industries’ efforts have focused on the option of resistance. It appears that many people want the model to stay the same, and will fight against change. In response to file-sharing the majority of activity has focused on short term action to solve the problem. Such action might appear so show some success, but when you look at the bigger picture a policy of resistance is destined to fail. Remember Napster? The music industry managed to shut down their illegal activity, but as soon as this happened people just moved on to different technology such as torrents. Now it appears they have been able to shut down torrent search engine The Pirate Bay, but chances are this will do little to help, people will just use something else.

All resistance appears to do is speed up the rate of technological progress and actually worsen piracy issues. Shutting Napster, inspired people to use torrents which enabled them to get much more content in much less time, closing The Pirate Bay could easily do similar. Recently as a response to the forced closure of The Pirate Bay someone actually uploaded a copy of the entire Pirate Bay site for people to download and in theory run their very own version of The Pirate bay. Closing down The Pirate Bay could actually result in hundreds more versions, which when closed down can simply be restarted somewhere else.

It’s not hard to see how future technology can only make it easier for users to get hold of digital content. As more and more people start to store the majority of their data online in the ‘cloud’, placing restrictions on how and when people can share this content will become increasingly difficult.

The consumer of the future expects to get a large amount of content for free, however there are plenty of things they are happy to pay for and they are not adverse to being exposed to advertising as a form of payment. Research actually suggests that people who source content for free online actually spend more on paid content online than those that do not. The policy of resistance could simply alienate their audience in a time where it is more important than ever that they make use of the technology available in order to engage their audience.

However, not all efforts have been directed towards resistance, some musicians are making the most of all things digital to help engage their fans and spread their music.

1. Radiohead – Pay what you want

In 2007 Radiohead decided to launch their album online, with users able to download the whole album from their site for whatever price they chose. More recently they’ve decided to release the latest single from their forthcoming album as a free download.

2. Muse – Let fans piece together the song

This year Muse released their single ‘United States of Eurasia’ by planting USB sticks all across the world containing 5 second bits of the track. It was then up to the fans to go out and physically find them, work together to upload them onto the web and piece it together to create the final track.

3. P Diddy – To succeed you’re going to need a great Facebook page

This year P Diddy launched the latest MTV star finder programme, and this year he was keen to point out the important role the Internet and specifically social media now plays in the industry. He stated “You have to understand how to be able to brand yourself,” he said. “Before, it was just at live shows, now you have to be able to do a great live show, you have to be able to do a great online interview, you need to have a great Facebook page, you have to have a great television performance.” He practices what he preaches and you can find P diddy all over social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook.

4. Coldplay – iPhone app

Recently Coldplay have released their very own iPhone application to help promote their latest single. Created by Babelgum the free mobile application includes the brand new Strawberry Swing video along with the Coldplay video catalogue, a Coldplay news feed and a videogame.

5. Mos Def – The album on a t-shirt

For his last album ‘The Ecstatic’ Mos Def decided to release it as a T-shirt. The T-shirt contained a tag on which was a unique Mp3 download code for album, furthermore the t-shirt had the Ecstatic Killer of Sheep-interpolating cover art printed on the front, and the song titles on the back.

6. No Doubt – Watch them live, get free music

No Doubt are letting people who buy top tier priced tickets for their latest tour download the entire No Doubt back catalogue for free. A great example of encouraging fans to buy experiences they can’t just download as well as rewarding their biggest fans.

7. Bloc Party – Crowd-sourced music video

For their music video to their single ‘Ares’ Bloc Party asked fans to send them their own video clips of the band performing live. These clips were then simply stitched together into a great music video, made for the fans by the fans. This is a great way to engage fans that makes great use of the material available thanks to the ease of video recording via mobile phones, and the ease that this material can be brought together through the power of the Internet.

8. Nine Inch Nails – Band uploads to torrent sites

Back in 2008 Nine Inch Nails put the first volume of their album ‘Ghosts’ onto torrent sites under a creative commons licence. Fans could enjoy this basic version for free and if they wanted more they could go to the official Nine Inch Nails website to download the extended version or go out and buy the standard CD or a variety of special limited edition box sets in store if fans wanted a physical product. A great example of freemium, giving away the basics for free and making the money on the upgraded versions.

9. Simian Mobile Disco – Augmented Reality mixer

Simian Mobile Disco have recently been promoting the release of their new album ‘Temporary Pleasure’ by creating the “first ever-human augmented reality music and visuals mixer”.  The piece was installed at the ‘Temporary Pleasure’ shop on Carnaby Street, London. The installation was an interactive augmented reality experience, which let people interact in a totally unique way with a never-heard-before content.

10. Grum (UK Dance music producer) – QR code posters

Grum has been making use of QR Codes technology as a way to promote his music. He has put up QR code posters up round the UK that people can scan to instantly hear his music on their phone or listen to it with the radio function on the phone. As well as promoting his music the campaign can also generate revenue, as people can then buy full version of the tracks directly from their mobile phone.

Another month – another twitter round-up.

Using the new and improved Hootsuite here are the most clicked links from the Trendplanner Twitter account for July. For other useful Twitter links on similar themes, check out Qapture which collects links shared by various people on Twitter (including Trendplanner).


1. Steve Jobs on why Apple doesn’t do market research – http://ow.ly/iyXN

2. Placement is key: Just look at these 15 Unfortunately Placed Ads http://ow.ly/gmbm

3. graffiti archaeology – brilliant. http://ow.ly/hBXu

4. Fast Food: Ads vs. Reality http://ow.ly/h6Uv

5. Mobile Phones let us change our plans – Geo-location could stop us planning altogether: http://ow.ly/i0Kz

6. Top 10 Augmented Reality Adveritising Campaigns so far. #ar #tech http://ow.ly/dsHv

7. Nike LIVESTRONG – Chalkbot. A great idea from nike for the #tdf http://ow.ly/gEQU

8. Freaky AR business card – http://ow.ly/hjiT

9. Lego:Pretty cool for a 50-yr-old. How has Lego succeeded where so many have failed? http://ow.ly/hmc7

10. Spotify iPhone app: 10 things you never knew. http://ow.ly/ihfR

Image: Monstro

Remember the days before mobiles (some of you actually won’t!)? Plans to meet friends were made days in advance, there was no changing plans at the last minute, you had to be where you said, when you said. In theory this sounds great, no last minute cancelling, no slack time keeping, however, it’s not much fun when it all goes wrong and you’ve got some poor guy waiting alone in the rain for a friend who isn’t going to make it!

But now thanks to the mobile phone you need never wait alone in the rain again. Plans needn’t be made days in advance, and times needn’t be so strict. Now we wonder just how people found it possible to ‘play things by ear’ before they could put a mobile phone to that ear!

But now the latest Geo-location mobile technology could further change the way we live our lives.

One such application of this technology is Google Latitude (see above). Google Latitude enables users to let their friends know where they are by sharing their location via their phone. Users simply open up Google maps on their mobile to see where their friends are. Users can turn the service on and off as they please and choose exactly who they want to share their location with. No longer do users have to tell people they’re running late, because they can see for themselves. In fact there might be no need to plan at all, just take a look who’s out and about and go and meet them.

The service has been running since February this year, but only on a limited number of handsets, real change can only occur when the service is available to the majority of mobile owners, but this might not be far off with smartphone ownership rising and new versions planned for the near future. The concept is nothing new, people have been sharing there location via twitter and facebook status updates for years now, but the key here is the ease of the process. Social tools are only useful when other people are using them, and things only get used by large numbers of people when they are easy to use. The simplicity and effortlessness of sharing your location automatically could be the key.

Google was by no means the first to be offering this kind of service, we’ve already got location based twitter clients such as Twinkle and location based social networks such as BrightKite, FourSquare, and many many more. But Google might just have the reach, the technology, and perhaps most importantly the financial resources to take the technology to the mainstream. The service has been available for a while now on Google android phones, Blackberries and a few other devices, but its when it finally gets released for the iPhone (Google says ‘coming soon’) we might just see the service brought back into focus.

But of course, as much as the power of Google can work for the service, it can also work against it. Many people are sceptical, or even fearful of Google’s motives, and the last thing they want is for Google to have information on exactly where they are. But then, whenever you’re signed into Google on your computer they have a pretty good idea of exactly where you are anyway. Perhaps a bigger worry is who else might be able to get their hands on the data, and whether this is just another step towards Orwellian society.

Its unlikely Google will start pushing users location based ads directly at users through the service. Latitude could help establish the role of Google maps as the local mobile search service. If you’re using Google maps to find your friends chances are you’re also going to use it to find everything else as well such as the nearest pub.

Services such as Google Latitude and other location based social networks are another step towards a real time web. People are getting more used to having access to real time information at their finger tips wherever they might be. The more that people use these features the more their behaviour will be dependent on them. Just think how essential mobile phones have become, and how frustrating it can be if you or someone you’re meeting doesn’t have it on them (or perhaps doesn’t even have one). Perhaps soon it might be the case that if we are not sharing our location with our friends, we’ll go back to waiting alone in rain.

Update: As of today (23/07/09) Google Latitude is now available for iPhone, however it’s not a downloadable app as expected, but can be accessed via the Safari browser. Obviously this makes it a lot more effort to share your location as you need to access the browser each time, furthermore, users will not be able to get Google Latitude services via their iPhone Google maps application. This move might take latitude another step forward, but it might not be until the next version of the iPhone that we really see the power of this technology be it using Google Latitude or even a similar service from apple.

Obviously Lego is a toy of many peoples’ past, but this needn’t be a negative thing. Lego has used it’s history to create a whole new audience for it’s product – people who aren’t kids any more. Lego is retro, retro is cool, so now you’ll find the Lego brand in some rather unexpected places. So people are loving Lego again, but perhaps they feel they’re a bit too old to be making things out of blocks? No problem, Lego has teamed up with fashion label Paul Frank to bring you Lego products that you can wear. You can also get your hands on a section of Lego accessories such as cameras and mp3 players, not all of these are official Lego products, but all go towards keeping that Lego brand in fashion.

It’s all very well appealing to new audiences, but this is no good if you end up neglecting your original and still primary audience. Lego are still providing products aimed at children, and key to this is the work they do around these products. Toys such as Lego face serious competition from digital content such as computer games and various online activities. Many brands would try and fight this digital technology, fortunately for Lego they are not one of these brands. Instead of working against digital technology, they have worked with it. Lego can’t stop kids playing computer games, so Lego have made their own, Lego can’t stop kids spending their time online on social networks, and online games, so once again they have made their own online content, and put themselves in the places people already are. More brand collaboration has enabled Lego to turn competitors into partners with the likes of SpongeBob Squarepants and Harry Potter Lego, and take the brand into new markets such as their recent tie in with Kickers school shoes.

Lego have not just been getting involved with the technology their audience are currently using, but they are heavily involved in developing the technology they will be using in the future. Augmented reality appears to be starting to take off, and Lego are one of the brands at the forefront of developing the technology and essentially directing the path it takes into the lives of their audience. Lego has used the technology to complement and assist the current product. Lego has installed AR terminals into their stores (above) in which customers can hold up a box full of Lego pieces to get a 3D image of what the product will look like when it’s finished. Then when the customer gets home they can even use AR to help them build the product.

Lego haven’t been doing the hard work by themselves, some of the best content has been done by Lego fans (see above) and can be found all over YouTube, and other Social Media sites. But then that’s what happens when you’ve built a brand people are happy to associate themselves with and most importantly when you’ve got a great product that lets your audience be creative.

Key to Lego’s success is synergy, isolate anyone element of the Lego offering and its very unlikely to perform at the same level, but together each element works along side one another which benefits the individual elemetent and the brand as a whole. Lego have managed to expand and evolve their product offering while staying true to their brand, be it amazing theme park rides or augmented reality experiences you can always trace it back to those original plastic blocks.

We might assume this spells the end for many traditional advertising channels such as billboards and TV, not if necessarily.

They just need to evolve.

Below is nice example of a billboard which is completely dependent on audience interaction. This digital billboard was recently installed at Brussels airport by the energy company Electrabel, and as people pass by it provides a thermal image of the heat energy given off by each person. A great idea based on what their brand is all about, and as the video demonstrates it clearly engages the audience.

Source: Blogilvy

Another great example of audience interaction in what is traditionally seen as a one way communication context will be provided by O2 in cinemas across the UK in the coming months. Prior to watching the latest ice age film, cinema goers will be able to participate in an interactive 3D game where their hand movements will determine the path of the spaceship O2 through an on coming 3D asteroid storm.

With the latest technology the audience can interact in communication channels that might never have seemed possible. The key of course is giving them the reason to do so. In the examples above the audience is drawn in by the new technology, but when this technology becomes established brands won’t be able to rely on the wow factor of the technology to engage the audience. This of course is true of all marketing using the latest technology such as Augmented reality and QR codes, it’s only so long the technology itself can be used to hook in the audience. Brands will either have to take the technology yet another step forward or they could concentrate on making the most out of the evolved channel and provide a genuinely entertaining or useful experience to engage their audience.

Here are 5 of the best examples that demonstrate what can be done and where this is going.

Lego

Lego have really embraced AR, as well as this advanced instruction programme, they’ve put AR terminals in stores where customers can simply hold a up a box full of bits and see a digital version of the completed model. Read on to see how BMW have taken this to the next level.

Ray-ban

A great idea to really boost the e-commerce potential for sunglasses. Put off buying shades online because you can’t try them on? Well now you can.

Carcade

Created by a group of students at Berlin University, this is a game that uses the real world as the in game environment. Very clever and not a bad way to pass the time on those long car journeys!

Wikitude AR travel guide

It’s all very well having all this clever technology, but if it only works when you’re sitting at your desk then it not actually that accessible or useful. But thanks to Google Andriod we can now experience AR through mobile phones. This clever application lets you see information about your surroundings by simply pointing your mobile camera.

BMW

So we’ve done mobile, but during complex tasks (say like fixing a car) using a mobile isn’t very practical. So BMW take things to the next level with the concept of wearing some clever glasses that let you see the digital content. They could even develop this for more complex tasks like putting together ikea furniture…

Remember the Chumby, the Internet enabled multimedia player, touch screen device that looked a little like an alarm clock? Well now you can also get your hands on a Nabaztag, an Internet enabled plastic rabbit!

The Nabaztag communicates by flashing lights and actually speaking to you, it can read you news, emails, and even books.  Amongst many other things it can even send out emails and text messages on your behalf.

The Nabaztag is created by violet who have created a series of Internet enabled products which aim to bring us a truly augmented reality, giving us the benefits of the digital world in the real world.  If they have their way everything in our lives will be connected to the Internet.

If you’re from the UK you still can’t buy a Chumby, but the Nabaztag is widely available. Or you could just wait a few years when you’ll struggle to find products that don’t connect to the Internet.

Here’s some clever stuff from Lego (not actually related to this picture).

Watch Video

The video shows how through a monitor you can see the completed item in a 3D image as though it is on the box you are holding.

Apparently Lego are using these in their stores, a great way for Lego customers to get a feel for what’s in the box. Especially products (like lego) that you get in pieces, so can you see what it should look like (if you don’t mess it up).

This technology could also be used out of store as an intuitive way for the user to view a 3D image of the product from all angles.

Photo: Reuters

Psychologists in China are pushing for Internet Addiction to become classified as a disease. Internet Addiction Disorder (IAD) symptoms include staying online for more than six hours a day, instead of working or studying, and having adverse reactions from not being able to get online.

Many people will already fit this criteria, and in the not too distant future the majority of people in this country might. More and more people are spending time online while they watch television, many more are using the interent when ever they are away from their computer via their mobile and even through items such as their alarm clocks. It won’t be long before the internet is everywhere we go, and is constantly running in the background of our lives. Being such a vital part of our lives people are going to have adverse reactions when they can’t access the internet.

For example if your car is connected to the internet for secure access, for route information, for traffic information, to tell you who needs picking up today, to tell the people at your destination that you’re on your way, etc, you’re not going to be very happy if you can’t get online!

I’m not saying that there aren’t people who have an actual problem that is affecting their lives, just that they need to be very careful and pay very serious consideration to future possibilities when defining this disorder.

Source: Guardian

It might look a little like a Chumby.

A Chumby looks a lot like an alarm clock at first, but when you look a bit closer you’ll find it has many features that you’d find on an iphone.

It will wake you up in the morning, and this might be using the usual series of loud beeps, however it might be using your favourite digital radio station, or your one of your online music playlists. Furthermore, after you’ve managed to open your eyes and turn the alarm off it will display live newspaper headlines, facebook updates, weather updates, and pretty much whatever you want to see in the morning…

It works by wireless connecting to the nearest internet connection and constantly collects and displays content that you’ve selected.

An alarm clock you probably wont wont to throw against a wall.

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