We Are Organized Chaos

Mike Tyson’s Punchout + Kinect = AWESOME!

From Kinect Hacks is another hack showing how old school NES game Mike Tyson’s Punchout can work with Kinect.  Now imagine what this will do for previous game titles.  Hopefully somebody doesn’t get Kinect working with MAME or I’ll never be seen or heard from again…

Kinect Fail Videos – Some People Aren’t Ready For The Natural User Interface…

Here’s some videos of some lighthearted moments where people are getting familiar with the new Natural User Interface (NUI) on Kinect…Nobody said adoption of a radical new gestural interface would be easy

Do You Think Mobile Augmented Reality Will Be A $1.5 billion Industry by 2015?

So, Juniper Research just issued a report that “predicts global revenues from (mobile) augmented reality applications and services will approach $1.5 billion by 2015.” And I wanted to see what you guys thought about that number… Does it sound accurate? Is it way off (in either direction)? What’s going to drive that revenue? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

For the record, my official answer is: WTF??? By 2015? How?

That is a gigantic number, and I’m not sure how it’s achievable given the issues mobile AR has and will have for the next few years… I’ve tried to raise industry awareness about the (current) issues with mobile AR by writing about them in this blog ad nauseum. Those issues include: inaccurate civilian grade GPS; fragmented development environment (iOS, Android); inadequate processing power of handsets; battery life; and, subpar/unnatural consumer experience (to name a few). If you want more details, you can read one of our previous posts by clicking here.  In my mind, these issues will delay consumer adoption/usage and serious development efforts.

To put $1.5 billion in context, Mobile has been blowing up in the States the past few years and according to eMarketer we’re finally going to surpass $1 Billion in mobile ad spending for the first time in 2011… Oh, and the largest segment of that ad spend? Text message marketing.

Obviously the app market is a crowded and difficult one to succeed in but I came across a quote yesterday that I think is pretty applicable and telling (especially about consumer usage habits): there is a 5% retention rate on free apps after 30 days.  So where is this $1.5 billion going to come from? If people don’t even use free apps after 30 days, do you think the “average person” would pay an upfront fee for any of these apps?  I don’t…

Now, I’d love to hear your thoughts below, or on Twitter: @jack_benoff

Augmented Reality Links of the Week- January 14, 2011

Here are the stories that got the most activity on the Augmented Reality Facebook Group this week:

• CES: Clear Glasses to Augment Your Reality – Technology Review
• Audi adding laser ‘reality display’ to navigation
• Asiajin » Salisbury Steak, A Voice Actress And AR

Augmented Reality Links of the Week- January 7, 2011

Here are the stories that got the most activity on the Augmented Reality Facebook Group this week:

• Mobile augmented reality is overhyped technology for now: Forrester – Mobile Marketer – Research
• Augmented Reality Magic Mirror using Kinect
• Recon details next-gen GPS goggle technology: Android, Bluetooth, endless fantasies — Engadget

What Can Marketers Expect at CES 2011?

I recently created an op-ed for Adage called CES 2011: Welcome To The Year of Tablets and Digital Living Rooms which you can view here.  This is a preview of what to expect at CES and how marketers might be able to leverage certain technologies unveiled at the annual electronics show.  You can also read on below…

CES (Consumer Electronics Show) 2011 is almost upon us and like all gadget-obsessed technorati, half the excitement of an upcoming CES is trying to guess what new innovations will be unveiled to the public. CES 2010 appeared to be the year of 3-D televisions (fueled by the success of “Avatar” and other popular 3-D films) but adoption by consumers has been lukewarm at best. As Financial Times reports, price and need for 3-D glasses has made many consumers hesitant to purchase last year’s next big thing.

So with CES 2011 just weeks away, what can marketers start preparing for? My guess: tablets and connected TV sets.

Tablets
The iPad has been a runaway hit for Apple and helped create a new electronics segment sitting squarely in between laptops and netbooks. With Samsung also jumping into the tablet market with the Galaxy Tab, anticipation is high for other Windows 7-, Android- and Linux-based tablets from the likes of Dell, HP and others. So though we can expect tablets to soon be their own category, what does this mean for marketers? For one, it will continue to provide a fragmented market when it comes to campaign development. Apple refuses to support Flash, while Google (with their Android operation system) has been a huge supporter — even going so far as to integrate Flash into the Chrome browser. Then you also have the app vs. mobile web issue to take into account, which leads to greater fragmentation and cost to a marketer.

In addition, though the tablet market is technically more akin to the smartphone than the laptop, there will be mobile marketing-based opportunities for marketers targeting the “always on the grid” mobile consumer. Augmented Reality is one area that can benefit from the larger display screen and processing power of a tablet. LBS will also likely mature to provide more beneficial services for consumers outside of becoming a mayor of a restaurant.

And finally, Skype has already stole some pre-CES thunder by releasing its mobile video chat application for the iOS — iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 and the iPad. Though Apple made an initial splash with its FaceTime mobile video chat app, it’s hard to see Apple, or anybody for that matter, denting the Skype armor considering the market share Skype has already amassed. And this market share is interoperable and across mobile, web and even the digital living room via connected TV sets. Skype, like it or not, will become synonymous with video chat just as Google was synonymous with search.

Connected TVs
The battle for the digital living room has been ongoing for a while and it’s now finally made it to the mainstream. This year it appears that connected sets and peripherals (i.e. set-top boxes) will be the big bet this year from OEM’s. With more than 200 apps in their store and 1 million app downloads, Samsung has both taken a leadership position in this space and helped validate the market. Though Google has also thrown its hat into the ring with its own Logitech-based set top box and Sony-based TV, they also have had a few problems to date. ReelSEO has a good rundown here. With Apple also selling 1 million units of their Apple TV in 2010 alone, it does appear that the consumer is finally ready for internet connectivity in the living room.

What again does this mean for the marketer? For starters, there is a shift happening from the desktop PC to the connected TV for consumers. The connected-TV environment will not only increase the expectation for interactivity with content but usher out the “passive” viewing experience. If you ever watch ESPN “SportsCenter” and notice the interactivity both on the left and bottom of the screen, this will likely be the future of how we view content in this connected format. Apps will allow for even more interactivity and contextual integration fundamentally changing how marketers will need to interact with viewers.

Though there are likely to be other cool gadgets on display, there’s one other technology that I hope will make an appearance — Kinect. Microsoft’s motion gaming device has been a blockbuster so far with 5 million units sold over the last few months. Though this has created an evolution in gaming, it’s providing a revolution in how people interact with digital information via the Natural User Interface (NUI). Just as consumers were getting used to touchscreen displays, we now have another shift to motion-based interaction and gestural control. If you have the time, it’s worth checking out the Kinect Hacks site to see how “hackers” are using the Kinect technology to create mind-blowing examples of everything from Predator type “cloaking” to the Minority Report navigation system.

The New Zugara – Augmented Reality Software Developer

Since we were founded in 2001, Zugara has always focused on emerging media and technology in the Interactive Marketing and Advertising industries.  Throughout those years, we continually developed initiatives and innovations in some of our core areas of expertise – social media, web, interactive video and mobile.  However, in 2008, it became apparent that the digital ecosystem was continuing to fragment and that it was getting increasingly difficult to try and be a “Jack of All Trades, Master of None”.  We firmly believe that as these 4 core areas (mobile, web, video and social) continue to fragment at an ever increasing speed, it’s best to focus on one core area – and that area for us is Augmented Reality.

It was not easy getting here and I want to personally thank all past and present employees of Zugara for helping to make this happen.  We still have a long way to go but without the help from just about everybody involved in Zugara’s world throughout the years, we would not have made it this far.  It’s hard enough running a business in good times, but restructuring and ‘rebooting’ during a recession has been probably the most formidable task Zugara has taken on in it’s past 9 years.

But now we look towards the future – and that future is Augmented Reality.  AR became the first technology I’ve ever seen resonate deeply with our entire group and for the last 2 years we’ve focused almost entirely on creating innovative software, executions and concepts in this field to help show others how we see AR as an integral part of everybody’s future.

With all that said, I hope you take a moment to check out our new site.  The new site has a much clearer focus on what our new goal as a company is and what we now offer – Augmented Reality Software.  Our flagship product continues to be The Webcam Social Shopper – Augmented Reality E-Commerce Software – that will continue to evolve the e-commerce experience for the consumer.  We are also launching quite a few ZugMO Motion Capture based games and kiosk-based AR executions over the next few months, so please check the site (or our blog) to see how these areas in particular will continue to grow as people become more accustomed to the NUI (Natural User Interface and gestural interaction).

In final, I want to thank again everybody for their support of Zugara over the last few years and look forward to an exciting (and augmented) future!

- Matt

Augmented Reality Links of the Week- December 17, 2010

Here are the stories that got the most activity on the Augmented Reality Facebook Group this week:

• Augmented Reality: SAP BusinessObjects
• KinecTris: Tetris + Kinect + Face Tracking + Gestures

Augmented Reality Links of the Week- December 10, 2010

Here are the stories that got the most activity on the Augmented Reality Facebook Group this week:

• Ever wondered where to see the International Space Station? There’s an app for that.
• Optical Camouflage Demo with Kinect: artandmobile.comt
• World Cup, the Next Generation (Concept Video of Japan’s Bid)

Augmented Reality Links of the Week- December 3, 2010

Here are the stories that got the most activity on the Augmented Reality Facebook Group this week:

• Interactive Puppet Prototype with Xbox Kinect
• Black Eyed Peas – The Time (Dirty Bit)
• Hans Rosling’s 200 Countries, 200 Years, 4 Minutes – The Joy of Stats – BBC Four