digitalsmoosh

Recently, I came across an article on AdAge, entitled “Get Ready For Twitter to Start Animating Machines“. Basically, it was an overview on how technology is now allowing more interactions between inanimate objects and human beings. The examples that were given in the article were fascinating, so I thought I’d explore them a bit more!

Here are the examples from the article, and a bit more about each of them:

Nike+

This is basically a gadget you connect to your iPod and running shoes which tracks details about your runs. It tracks things like distance, speed, what music you are listening to etc. When you sync your iPod to your computer, you are able to upload your information to the Nike+ website where you can view your progress, view graphs, analysis, run comparisons, and more.

Where the problem lies with the Nike+ website is that the site is built using Gaia flash framework, and not everyone is that keen to have a flash heavy site to view their information on. Besides the fact it is quite time intensive, you have accessibility issues, accuracy issues (the graphs aren’t very accurate)… even the widgets are flash based.

So what if you want to use their API to create something of your own?

Runner Plus is the third party website for the data analysis that is  used on the Nike+ website. If you want to get your stats up on your WordPress blog, you can head over ear-fung.us where you can get the plugin (note: I do not have this on my blog. Why? Because I’m lazy and don’t run. But should. That’s another story altogether!).

Bit of a nerd, and want to find out how you can connect to the API via C#? Well, there is a way to connect to it, thanks to Eric Wroolie (the man is amazing!). Or alternatively, get those PHP skillz in action, and find out how you can access the API via PHP here.

Sony Space Hoppers

Oh golly, Dare Digital do some amazing campaigns (check out their campaigns here). And this one is of no exception.

Basically, a grid with 49 deflated spacehoppers was created. By having people tweet using hashtags, the spacehoppers would inflate and one lucky hopper was launched into space! (NB: I can’t find any info on anyone being launched into space… anyone got any info?). So, here is the video that explains how the campaign was made using Twitter hashtags.

Mattel and Barbie

For her 50th birthday, Mattel has given Barbie a voice. She’s on Twitter, YouTube and Facebook.

There are several brand mascots that are utilising social media. By doing this, it essentially give the brand authenticity, and a way of connecting with the consumer on more of a personable level. But what happen’s when things (ahem) don’t go the way you planned? For example, @Shamu was the “killer whale” that represented SeaWorld on Twitter. He might have been instrumental in his trainer’s death… Here’s a great article on what happened.

Blue Dot

When Blue Dot opened their SoHo store in 2008, they were introduced to the resourceful culture of “curb-mining”: the act of finding furniture and art on the street. Now that a year has passed, they decided to conduct a curb-mining experiment of their own to celebrate their one-year anniversary in New York.

On November 4-5, 25 Real Good Chairs were dropped around NYC, free for the take. Many were GPS-enabled. Watch the film to see what happened! (The video is fantastic and leaves you with a really nice feeling. Aww.)
UPDATE: Anyone else think of Stranger Than Fiction when listening to the voiceover for the video?!

Blu Dot Real Good Experiment from Real Good Chair on Vimeo.

FedEx SenseAware

Wow. This is fascinating. Using an in-package sensing device (about the size of a drink coaster) with a web-based information platform, the company can now let users know if a package has been opened or exposed to light, its exact location via GPS coordinates and even if it is too warm or cold. It looks promising for collaborations between supply chain partners, where they can share important information about critical shipments. It uses a combination of GPS and mobile phone signals to give you real time data on the web.

Guiness Area-22

This is a site that hosts data on the rugby team and its players performance, an iPhone app and even a Facebook page. The site boasts in-depth data with excellent visualizations on the key areas like kicking, possession, penalties (“Sin Bin”) defense and performance. It utilises RFID techonology, where a chip is placed in a rugby ball. Sensors are placed around the pitch which then monitors players and the ball starts to log statistics (including accuracy of passes, strengths of tackles etc).

Here’s a nice pretty TV ad for the site:

It’s really amazing what is now possible with today’s technology. It’s interesting how many people are concerned with the ‘noise’ and saturation that is being caused at the moment, but really. Come on. Start thinking about how you can utilise this technology, and combine it with savvy marketing and design to make sure it stands out from the crowd. Stop thinking about the limitations, and start thinking about the possibilities that are now available to us. If we all thought like that, we wouldn’t be where we are at today, huh?