Here is yet another piece of technology that listens in to its surrounding environment to produce “minute-by-minute, fine-grained data on whether you are talking, whom you prefer to talk with, what your tone is, and if you interrupt” which can be used to improve your communication skills and change your tactics, including those that lead to unproductive workplace dynamics... It could be an interesting training /diagnostic tool for corporates - but i question weather it would really lead people to change the way they are?
You May Soon Know if You’re Hogging the Discussion
PEOPLE who want to improve their communication skills may one day have an unusual helper: software programs that analyze the tone, turn-taking behavior and other qualities of a conversation. The programs would then tell the speakers whether they tend to interrupt others, for example, or whether they dominate meetings with monologues, or appear inattentive when others are talking.
The inventor of this technology is Alex Pentland of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who has developed cellphone-like gadgets to listen to people as they chat, and computer programs that sift through these conversational cadences, studying communication signals that lie beneath the words.
If commercialized, such tools could help users better handle many subtleties of face-to-face and group interactions — or at least stop hogging the show at committee meetings.
Thanks to NY Times. The full article can be read here.
RJDJ is an iPhone App that connects the outside world to your acoustic perception, and essentially changes the way you perceive reality.
RJDJ basically works like this: The phone can record sensory data around you (sound and movement), and associates it with a “scene” of your choice. These scenes, all created by different artists, are more like morphing soundscapes. They react to the incoming noises and movements and, depending on the scene you’ve selected, reacts differently–through both visuals and sounds. In a way, it’s a lot like a movie soundtrack scored in real-time.
Thanks yet again to NGT. I strongly recommend you check out this demo because its easier to appreciate when you see it in action.
Want to track Fido using GPS? Frame a new photo for grandma in real time?
AT&T has created a new division within the company to help devise new consumer devices – digital cameras, devices for cars, even dog collars – which they hope will make it easy to access the Web using AT&T’s network.
The idea behind the new initiative, said Glenn Lurie, president of the new emerging devices division, is to quench consumers’ desire for access to the Internet at any time or place. Because nearly 9 out of 10 people already own a mobile phone, AT&T can’t grow fast enough by selling more phones. It needs to find new sources of revenue, particularly devices that use data. Industry analysts suggest that the market for new Web-enabled devices will grow faster than cell phones in the next ten years.
Mr. Lurie said AT&T has dedicated more than 50 people to the division and is negotiating with potential partners. But he already has a few ideas in mind. “Everyone loves their pets,” said Mr. Lurie. So much so, AT&T is interested in a developing a Web-enabled animal collar. If a dog comes up missing, an owner can go to a Web site and, using AT&T’s network, find where their dog has wandered.
Mr. Lurie said too that he saw in-car entertainment as a market for such devices. For example, instead of popping a DVD into a car player, movie watchers in the backseat could access the Web on a screen, buy a movie from iTunes and watch it right away.
Mr. Lurie also mentioned a Web-enabled digital camera that could send photos in real-time to a specially designed Web-enabled picture frame. Of course both products would have to be compatible so photos could be transmitted via AT&T’s network. That’s no small feat given all the partners involved. But Mr. Lurie said it was technologically possible.
“We wouldn’t put this level of commitment to it if we did not think it was possible,” Mr. Lurie said of the initiative.
AT&T does not plan on making the devices themselves. And the hard part will be getting the makers of cameras, cars and dog collars to agree to put chips in their products dedicated to accessing AT&T’s network. (Verizon Wireless uses a different network.) And even the simplest of devices could be months or years away. Mr. Lurie, though, said he hoped to make some announcements about partners or new products in the first quarter of next year.
A new study from iPerceptions, Inc., indicates that the rich just aren't that into Internet ads.
Turns out, the more you make, the less likely you are to click on Internet ads.
In fact, on average, 40% of consumers likely to click on any ad make less than $50,000 a year. Only 15% make more than $150,000.
It gets even worse with video ads - where 49% of those likely to click on an ad make less than $50K, and only 13% make more than 150K.
What's more, overall, most users say they're more likely to click on text ads than video ads.
Now, as iPerceptions points out, much of this has to do with age. Those under 25 - the group most likely to click on ads, text, video or otherwise - probably do not make $150K per year.
So this may have less to do with income than with age group.
But it does provide some warning to luxury goods manufacturers hoping the Web will help make up for expected tough times this holiday shopping season.
OK you should have spotted quite a few characters living on this post :) - and if you like the ‘video-real’ talking character centered on the page, click it for more ’salesy’ characters - courtesy of CLIVEvideo - all will be revealed - and no I have not gone into wigs manufacture!
A few months ago I blogged about the new kid on the intranet block, those ‘layered’ social virtual worlds. Quite simply they are communities of pseudo 3D avatars layered over the 2D web (browsers). I noted that these services are a transition to a ‘live’ collaborative web 3.0 world as this is more of a “let them dip their toes in” before committing to a higher bandwidth, more fully rendered 3D world such as many of those on my sticky video of the 08 metaverse.
I certainly think is the best approach for large numbers who wouldn’t be seen dead or alive in something like Second Life. This is another quick whistle stop tour of a quickly evolving player, Rocketon and also a recent Aussie company who have an alternative approach - ‘live action’ video layered over the 2D web CLIVEvideo.com. (Incidentally if everything is working you should have had a person talking to you in the middle of this post - if not it may be many months later and things have broken OR some other technical reason I cannot ponder at the moment - IE!). Even though I start by talking about Rocketon and it’s implications, having the privilege of playing with the demo of CLIVEvideo for a while I realised many points are relevant to both - bar the ‘big’ nay huge fact that Rocketon is social (shared, real time and partly pulled) and CLIVE is pre-rendered, pushed and fixed (although they tell me they are working on being a bit more web 2.0).
I have been beta’ing and playing with Rocketon for the past few weeks trying to see how it fitted in with my normal zillion web 2.0/3.0 application lifestyle and finding out where the real attraction is for large numbers to adopt this hybrid paradigm. Firstly it I noticed that with Rocketon in minimize mode, every web page I visited it seemed to be doing something in the background, watching? Spying? Regardless every hour or so it gave me a present - some pixel jewelry, a funny avatar - I have a massive collection of stuff now - what to do with it all and how does an emerald relate to me browsing a ‘map of sydney site’? I have still to work out what is going on with general browsing but two killer apps are evident with Rocketon after a few hours tinkering. 1 - Making existing branded websites fun/sticky and 2 - Making web surfing more social, gamelike and challenging.
The first image you can see above is me and SilkCharm being silly so and so’s dropping Burger King pixel toys on MacDonalds sites (only we can see it of course), but with a larger group like the top image, it starts to have significance…if only in the ‘power’ to do so and the fact that pictures/videos are taken and put on blog posts/flickr/YouTube (ah the old rippling impressions). I also made a quick film of a few of us invading the SMH webpage, partly Laurel and myself showing how ‘communities’ can and will make ’statements’ - much the same as we do in group based social situations in the real world. The potential for positive product placement, interactive toys, loyalty benefits and so on will not go unnoticed by readers of this post!
But the more interesting element of Rocketon for me is where the community are given the tools to create quests, puzzles or games for each other. To demonstrate the potential of CCG (community created games) the Rocketon team set up a simple quest with pretty easy clues. The process, you are given a mission, you read clues, travel to websites (with the Rocketon layer activated) come back to a base and so on.
The thing I really like about this simple example is that you can embed pixel ‘treasure’ or goods on websites, without any recourse to the website owner of course. (I am sure Rocketon are thinking hard about the legal ramifications of hundreds of RTons heading off to litigeous sites to find inappropriate items and then posting the experience!). Anyways you can see in these two images I have been given a secret envelope and sent to ebay to collect a parcel to post and then await further instructions. Suddenly a couple of web pages turn into a scene from The Thomas Crown Affair.
I have quite a lot more to say about Rocketon and it’s distant cousins such as weblin but time is pressing and lots more to get on with. For the moment though all I can advise them is to enable tools for the community to develop their own fun or for marketeers to start to offer quite tricky quests for real world prizes - I am sure this is happening, it is the only path to really get the numbers up.
So to CLIVEvideo. I have literally been playing with this for less than an hour today after Scott from Maxy’s grabbed me on twitter! It looks very promising. I have seen many variations of this over the years but the implementation of this particular technology is pretty accessible and is squarely aimed at ad agencies, SMEs and larger companies and those who want to differentiate their website and make it a little more viral. As with the points above about Rocketon the real value of having layered personalities over the webpage is to build bridges between the layers (the avatars or video peops relating to what is below them) - or why be there in the first place. CLIVEvideo.com have some great tools to build ‘key’ed’ (invisible backgrounded people) sequences and to also add in sequence applications (person, flash demo, person, page link, person, product video demo etc) and are focused on sales or corporate messages at the moment.
But imagine a future where the keying is from 4-10 people, a webcam community, who start to act a little like we have been doing with Rocketon. Doesn’t have to be full body necessarily, but why not - webcam pointing at users in front of a green or blue screen in their office/bedroom. Then you really have some potential to make the 2D web much more fun and sticky. The applications for marketing, socialising etc start to kick in when you can (like some video chat applications) render pixel elements over the top of the live video image. Ummmm. *rubs hands*… It will certainly be a lot of effort for some, but having specially designed web pages for ‘Keyers’ (as they shall be known) would also provide Google Lively type integration - key yourself live into this and make the branded movie etc
Finally, finally well still on this topic a new player that makes it even easier to meet and chat based on the web page your on is Live World. It’s product LiveBar is basically a ‘chat’ engine that detects the page your on and connects you to others that are also on that page.
Now we will really see how popular some webpages are
Thanks to NGT for providing us with this insightful article on vital digital perspectives from those that probably know it best
Brands all over the world are trying to reach young people through digital channels. So how are they doing? Are the kids digging their Facebook apps? What about that jam playing on their website? Are they besties with marketers on Bebo? Hmmm, not so much. PSFK pointed us to Ruby Pseudo’s “Teen Commandments for brands wanting to ‘do digital’” which includes some way harsh, but important, feedback from young Brits. For one, they’re bored of Facebook shenanigans (see image).
Fern, a 23-year-old from London, said “I generally hate - with a passion - all Facebook applications. I currently have 500 unchecked applications. They are of no interest to me whatsoever. I don’t care what celebrity I look like; I don’t care whether I’m hot or not and I don’t have time to draw silly pictures on walls”
Perhaps Solomon, (21) sums it up then with “Offer prizes for shooting a duck? What am I? A freakin’ idiot?”
(Though it’s worth mentioning that these quotes are from 20-somethings, not teens…)
Secondly, they are tired of inauthenticity, pandering, pop-ups and other nonsense (they want utility, just like the rest of us!) Here Ruby enumerates rules of engagement for brands in the youth space:
1. Too often, I think brands believe frippery is fantastic, it’s not - get to the point. Kids - like adults - probably want to know something along the lines of the following from your site… a) where your nearest store, event or retailer is, b) what your product/event/etc is going to cost them, c) how to get in touch with you or d) something pretty much damn nothing like playing a game whereby you click a cursor so some girls knickers fall off.
2. Present the freaking facts. Have a place where kids can put their own opinions down, and be approachable.
3. Don’t redirect them, that’s just rude - they’ve just turned up at your digital door. Sort your URL out.
4. Don’t put some tune you think is ‘hip’ on in the background; it won’t be.
5. And don’t turn up on their Facebook page and think you know what’s going on - you don’t.
6. Also, whilst we’re at it, if they’re recently broken hearted, they won’t want to speak to you about it. Secondly, they don’t want you shoving some ‘Single? Broken-Hearted?” quip questions at them either. Have some manners.
7. Bebo… is not looked at by anyone over the age of 12. I’d say 8, but they’ll have some statistic to wak back at me that would disprove my point.
8. Do not, whatever you do, appropriate youth culture on your site, but hell, we hope you know this.
9. Avoid pop-ups. Kids hate them.
10. Finally, with Facebook and MySpace etc, please remember that you’re in their (digital) space: they didn’t ask you to be there, and they can’t very well ask you to leave, so talk nicely. And if you haven’t got anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all…
Below is a great list of sites that make it easy for you to download the pics you snap on your mobile to social networking sites etc. Thanks again to NGT.
Zooming in on Mobile Photo-Sharing
BY CHUL
Cameras have become a standard feature on phones. Many young people don’t even carry cameras anymore, but snap shot and low-res shot on their handsets. A bit grainy and blurred? Who cares! They will take convenience over quality any day. And it’s not about content anyway, it’s about socialization.But soon they won’t have to make any sacrifices. As mobile evolves, cameraphones will soon sport 5, even 8, megapixels as the norm. This will only bolster the lifecasting trend–recording and sharing moments via photos and videos. They will increasingly want to share photos and hear comments from others wherever they go. This opens the market wide open mobile photo-sharing platforms, which become yet another tool to connect them with their friends. Here are a few players in the space that caught our eye:
www.shozu.com
A free downloadable application. Once downloaded to your mobile, you can easily upload your photos and videos to over 30 online social network, blog and photo sites. It supports a variety of phones and has features like geo-tagging and friend’s feed.
www.mobypicture.com
Easy way to send your photos on mobile to Twitter, Jaiku, Wordpress, Tumblr, Blogger and Flickr via MMS or email. Your friends will receive your post notification when you upload photos. Only cost for sending MMS by your carrier.
www.treemo.com
Create your customized mobile wap page and manage your photos, video and audio. It’s only for treemo’s online and mobile channels. Subscribe to your friend’s channel and check your friend’s photos in your mobile page.
www.cellblock.com
Create your Cellblock though the website and upload/share photos to other SNS or blogs. You can also access Cellblock on your mobile to view and publish photos.
http://phozi.com
Turn your cameraphone into a Japanese photo booth and add graphics and drawings on the top of your photo. Rate other people’s photos and chat with them on website. Fun, but it’s too bad you can’t send photos from your mobile to other channels.
http://radar.net/blog/
Real-time sharing of mobile pictures and videos with your friends. Key features: the Radar Player lets you share photos from your phone to your webpage or social network; the Radar Notifier lets you know when your friends post and comment.
PEOPLE who want to improve their communication skills may one day have an unusual helper: software programs that analyze the tone, turn-taking behavior and other qualities of a conversation. The programs would then tell the speakers whether they tend to interrupt others, for example, or whether they dominate meetings with monologues, or appear inattentive when others are talking.
Fern, a 23-year-old from London, said “I generally hate - with a passion - all Facebook applications. I currently have 500 unchecked applications. They are of no interest to me whatsoever. I don’t care what celebrity I look like; I don’t care whether I’m hot or not and I don’t have time to draw silly pictures on walls”
