Google launched Lively today, which is basically their effort at Second Life. But it might not be all nerds and emos like Second Life, it actually looks moderately cool. It runs in a browser (doesn’t need any software download), and Google already have about 40 million users using Gmail, which includes Gtalk, which is now part of Lively.
Users can create their own avatars (which are also more comic-book like than Second Life), and then create rooms where they can meet their friends. There’s not one big world where everyone is like in Second Life, but apparently that’s on the way.
Google didn’t just launch this so people could see avatars of the friends they’re talking to, if it does take off it will be a massive advertising platform, and it will be completely controlled by Google (which everyone said about Second Life too, but that’s still just nerds and emos).
Apparently some CDs didn’t see the funny side of being sledged by text (SMS) at the AWARD party at Sydney’s great arts venue Carriageworks on Friday. Guests could text comments with their mobiles that appeared in speech bubbles over pictures of the award winners.
Most of the comments were funny or in good spirits but as the night wore on and the alcohol kicked in the barbs became more poisonous.
We knew this was an experiment and therefore going to be a bit risky (see a similar use at re:publica conference). And some people will always go too far. However we wanted to show that at events, technology and interactivity can come together in a very intuitive way. It was an opportunity for people to experience first hand how easy-to-understand and engaging an interactive idea can be.
Video of the projection at the AWARD 2007 party:
We set it up using a standard SMS gateway, drawing the incoming live data (text messages) into a flash file which constituted the projection of photos made a few moments earlier. This might have been the first time such technology has been used at an Australian event.
If you know of similar applications or would like to comment (sledge?), please drop us a line.
Update:
The SMS celebrated its 15th birthday two days after we invited to text to the AWARD screen. Of course, we hereby salute the engineers at Airwide for their brilliant addition to the world of communication.
In order to raise awareness for the movie and Google/UniversalPictures’ game “Search For Bourne” in particular, NetX embarked on a special agent’s mission: Placing Post-It notes with a mysterious message from Bourne on objects and unsuspecting commuters in Sydney’s inner-city.
The person discovering the note reads “I am closer than you think. Bourneâ€, and being intrigued, turns it over to find the URL searchforbourne.com.
Allowing consumers to mess with your ad using their mobile phone is a playful way to get them involved. Megaphone brings people into the action without requiring them to dowload an app to their device (always a difficult hurdle to overcome). Megaphone not only allows interaction using the keypad but, as the name suggests, the volume into the phone’s microphone can also influence the shared game state. An ad controller (no, not skipper) in every passerby’s pocket - nice one.
Here’s a good example of complimentary interactive applications to enhance the experience at sports events (this time baseball, but could be anything):
“ The innovative program is called the Nintendo Fan Network. For a fee, the network uploads a program onto the user’s DS Lite and allows fans to order food and drinks, watch the live television feed of the game, access stats and scores and play trivia, all from the comfort of their seat - whether it’s a premium seat behind home plate or in the top row of the stadium.”
Of course this should be a moble java application (eventually) for near-total audience compliance but it would be a fun use of your DS at a game. If the trivia is a peer-to-peer competition, it could really harness the respective fanbases in the crowd. Maybe Betfair and similar companies will eventually look at this for small time speculators.
The Barbarian Group call this “the last iTunes visualizer you will ever want for”. They’re wrong. But it really is very very cool. If you use iTunes on a big screen or have a party coming up, go mod your visuals (remember to tweak modes with the ‘m’ key):
Now and then it’s good to remind ourselves that the tried and true ways we interact with connected services, are actually always evolving. I find these future vision-type presentations interesting both from the perspectives of interface design and also emerging habits and usage. The Intel UMPC video below shows a range of different devices taking advantage of the new version of their mobile computing platform due to be announced this week. I think ambient devices, like the bracelets worn in the clip, are going to increasingly be part of our lives in different forms. This is an extension of the idea that your information, identity and content might be stored in one place but accessed and interpretted differently depending on your context (eg. a new email might make your bracelet glow while it knows you’re away from your PC, or do nothing if you’re sitting in front of it).
Jason Bruges has created a bluetooth-fuelled installation on the London Bridge that demonstrates how art can intersect with technology for startling results. Here’s his description of the project:
“Using Bluetooth sensors, the movement of individuals carrying active Bluetooth devices will be captured on London Bridge. The information is then transmitted across the Pool of London to the high level walkways on Tower Bridge, where a dynamic band of light displays the activity for all to see.”
Brands should be considering how to involve people in experiential communications like this. When data is reinterpreted with artistic prowess, the outcome can offer a degrees of implicit participation and collective input that only emerging technology can enable. This is another wonderful example of the online and offline worlds colliding.
