A Wider Net

Information Aesthetics comes through again with a link to a great video demonstrating editing techniques in a most unusual way - in a one-take trampoline routine. Get it? It’s a video… about editing… without any edits. Since our company started in video production some 25 years ago I found this particularly appealing. Who knows? Maybe some of our customers may stop in knowing a bit more about editing after watching this. If I can get our busy editors to read this, perhaps they will comment on it’s accuracy.

Sunrise Systems of Pembroke, MA, a leading manufacturer of custom and semi-custom LED signs, recently launched their semi-transparent LED curtain product shown below. Unlike the LED curtains of their competitors, this product is very transparent and looks great at shorter distances. Also, because it’s optimized for permanent installations, it has the right set of hardware to look nice up close - it’s a great architectural product.

I would consider this a nice piece in a large atrium, museum, or in a large trade show exhibit. This is an attractive, elegant LED product.

You can see more on their website, which is a little frustrating to navigate in Firefox - IE recommended.

As this review points out, every living thing has heard of the iPhone. We are collectively the victims of another unstoppable buzz campaign from Apple. Like many reviews of this slick new device, the comments are mixed. The iPhone is slick, elegant, and potentially game-changing. At the very least, every handset maker in the world has been given a challenge to make better devices and for that we will all benefit. But, like the iPod, the device is technically imperfect and, like the iPod, competitors should be able to beat the iPhone technically and at lower prices. The question on every analysts mind must be: Will people continue to buy the iPhone despite the inevitable availability of lower cost, technically superior products, just because it’s an iPhone (just like they do with iPods).

I don’t have that answer of course, but I suspect iPhones will sell no matter what. In the meantime, the iPhone is among us, we have rumors of another iPhone right around the corner, and we have time to ponder it’s success from a marketing perspective and it’s usefulness as a marketing or communications tool.

As far as the marketing hype is concerned, we have only to look back at Macworld 2007 during which Steve Jobs finally unveiled the phone, after months (if not years) of endless and frantic rumors and speculation. I was a few hundred miles away at CES and once it was announced, that’s all anyone at CES was talking about. Steve Jobs had stolen the thunder of the largest consumer electronics event from hundreds of miles away. It was simply astonishing. Months later, on iPhone launch day, despite the over-abundance of iPhones at retail stores, the news media only covered the stores that had long lines filled with mattress-toting diehard fans, afraid to miss having their $1,975 phones on launch day. The media clearly loves Apple, because there were plenty of stores with plenty of stock and no rabid fans. Today, there are still iPhone stories in every magazine, newspaper, newsletter, and blog. Clearly Apple has a handle on brand loyalty and hype.

As a gadget, it’s has strong appeal despite its technical limitations, and because the price is out of range for most cellphone slingers, it has become arguably the hottest VIP gift you can give without wheels. And because it can display video and images so beautifully, it makes elevator pitches engaging. It’s the handset equivalent of a fancy car and a Rolex watch carrying prestige and gadget-chic. I imagine we will see at least one exhibitor at every trade show in America offering an iPhone giveaway, just like the iPods when they launched (before everyone got one).

For those of you simply hating the overpriced little thing, or if you are one of the unfortunate people charged with finding one for someone else, here’s a video you’ll love: The iPhone in a blender.

Vizoo, a Danish A/V Production company specializing in 3D illusions, created tremendous buzz for their trendy fashion client Diesel. Models would walk the runway, surrounded by eerie blue floating images, mostly underwater elements such as jellyfish and turtles. The effect was stunning, creating an environment aptly titled “liquid space”.

The illusion was created by projecting onto transparent screens they called “foils”, which are probably either partially reflective acyrilic sheets or holoscreens. Technically, neither of these are truly “holograms” but that doesn’t change the fact that they achieved something stunningly beautiful. Sometimes it’s the elegant, creative use of simple technology on a grand scale that creates the most impact. Consider the Bellagio fountains as proof - an array of water jets that, by themselves, are not very impressive, but collectively choreographed by the artists at Wet Design, they create a world-class destination attraction.

That’s what we’re looking at - an effect that is usually smaller and decades-old - the “Peppers Ghost” effect. We’re seeing this simple and classic effect used on a scale so massive and in a manner so compelling, it is now totally new, and totally wicked. This sort of approach can work in many ways for creating impact at an event. Arrays of simple elements, painstakingly choreographed, can create a versatile environment and an unforgettable experience. For example, recently one company found a tiny remote-controlled water valve, bundled dozens of them together, and created a waterfall that can spell messages in mid-air out of water drops.

According to Joystiq, there will now be sponsors attached to certain XBOX 360 achievements. An achievement is awarded to a gamer when they accomplish a specific task, such as beating a team, taking out enough bad guys, or winning a certain number of races. The “rewards” of earning achievements is typically limited solely to bragging rights - he who has the most achievements is the better (or at least, most committed) gamer.

Now sponsors are starting to claim naming rights for achievements. One example from the arcticle was the “Pontiac 4th Quarter Comeback” from an upcoming football game (see image below, from the Joystiq post). It’s nice name placement, but I think they’re still missing a really interesting opportunity.

Right now, as I mentioned, achievements are effectively worthless. Attaching a sponsor to it makes them worth money to the game publisher, possibly to Microsoft, and of course to the sponsor, but the gamer gets nothing from being assaulted by the ad. Why not provide more value to achievements and the user by turning that achievement into a true reward through the sponsor? So, instead of unlocking the “Pontiac 4th Quarter Comeback” achievement, you get money off a Pontiac? Unlock the “Warner Music Finger Twister” achievement on Guitar Hero 3 and get a free music download for your Zune?

They’re driving awareness through branding - which is as clever as it is annoying. I think it’s time to add customer value and drive them to the next step.

Widget Mania points us to dotSUB - a service that allows you to upload a video, add closed-caption text, then allow other users to translate the original text into any other language. The video becomes available to the masses in the language of their choice. This could also be considered a solution for the hearing impaired.

They certainly aren’t the first company to provide tools that allow us to add captioning, synchronized text, or even language translations, but they are the first solution I’ve seen that allows these translations to be produced by other users - similar to the way the Wikipedia grew. It does, of course, have the same pitfalls as Wikis - the users can place whatever text they want. Most of would never know if they translated “O, Say can you see” into “George Bush is an idiot” in Swahili. But the benefits revealed in this sample video greatly outweigh the risks:

I have not had an opportunity to explore this for corporate use. There would have to be controls over who was allowed to translate and who was allowed to view the content, but if there were, I bet there would be a long line of corporate communications and marketing people happy to meet their localization requirements using a tool like this.