mindblob

Artificial Dummies - From ideas to reality

ARTIFICIAL DUMMIES from todo.to.it on Vimeo.

As promised in my previous post... here is more about TODO interaction & media design, the Italian innovative company we talked about. Again coming with a very nice example of crowd fascination in front of a unique live experience. Talking about ways to give people out-of-the-ordinary experiences... here you go.

Now, maybe some of you have already seen visual things like that before and so might not find it new or innovative. But according to the "creatures" actually reacting to their environment, I see more than a simple light show behind this. That "little extra" is IMHO exactly what makes the difference and drives the live experience into an innovative and unique area. This is why I wanted to find out "how the system works?"... and guess what... TODO brings an answer to people wondering like me (check the video here under).

When the magic brought to the eyes of the public out there is obvious, the technology behind this is not. TODO did mix different theories, programs and technologies to make this happen in an unexpected context. This is what I find "innovative". That achievement (I bounced twice on them!) lead me to check their webpage out. Happy I did, it is full of brilliant ideas. I also found there a few words on the philosophy behind their way to... drive ideas into reality, that I'd like to share with you as well. Just LOVE it! Way to go guys ! And please... please, launch a blog... I'll subscribe!

 

• we ask questions

• we listen

• we research

• we take risk

• we make mistakes

• we like busted knees

• we solve problems

• we are happy

• we'll never retire

 

ARTIFICIAL DUMMIES, the process from todo.to.it on Vimeo.
   

Zygote - the interactive ball

NUday-ZYGOTE from todo.to.it on Vimeo.

 
Another focus on simple things that keep touching people. Well, this one is actually being "touched" by people. Or... how to energize and entertain a crowd, for example on a live concert, when waiting between two artists. Simply fabulous! This product is developed by Tangible Interaction Design.

Concept via TODO interaction & media design an Italian innovative company to follow. More on them coming soon in a next post. Okay... this thing is really too mindblobbing, I just can't resist sharing with you another Zygote film. People really seem to have punch a lot of fun out of it! Don't you feel like being in the crow, just under that ball now? : )

 

Zygote - interactive ball from todo.to.it on Vimeo.

 
   

PS : For those of you who remember the early seventies series (yup!), this is a FRIENDLY bubble, repeat... this is a FRIENDLY bubble. It won't try to stop you escape or swallow you!  ; )
  

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Gavin !

  
Today it's my friend Gavin Heaton's birthday. Please join me in wishing him a HAPPY BIRTHDAY ! For those of you who don't know him yet (there might be 1 or max. 2 on this planet)... just Google his name. You'll find about 29.700 results. This, because Gavin is "here" & everywhere and doesn't miss an occasion to comment on blogs, participate, support, engage conversation, all over the bloggosphere.

Originally uploaded by CK

  
Above all, Gavin is my friend. A friend all could wish to have because he is a genuine, sincere, generous, authentic person. A man with a heart, that I'm honored to know and was lucky to finally meet for the first time at Blogger Social '08. Now, the world is definitely smaller and I wish I'll meet him again soon.

JOYEUX ANNIVERSAIRE, Mate!  

Originally uploaded by Zsaj
    

The Girl Effect

via No Man's Blog by asi

Or how can animated words and music carry a simple message and touch, fascinate and let's really hope... push to action. Besides a content that is by definition extremely important, I love when stories are told that way. Well, as far as I am concerned, the film... does have an effect.

  

"Adolescent girls are uniquely capable of raising the standard of living in the developing world. Girls are the most likely agents of change, but they are often invisible to their societies and to our media.

When everyone -girls, parents, teachers, executives, artists, hairdressers, forest rangers, rock stars, presidents, investors, advertisers, skateboarders, truckers, cowboys, organizations, chefs, teenagers- knows about The Girl Effect, then real change can happen. This site is just the beginning. The end is nothing less than ending poverty."

Check The Girl Effect site HERE.
  

The Belgian 3Gs... "Geee Geee Geee!"

Who could ignore it? The iPhone 3G is about to spread the world. Wired just pointed what could seem to be a little detail when seen from a global point of view. Nevertheless... it's not for Belgians who might want to buy an iPhone.

"BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) -- Belgians finally get the chance to buy one of Apple Inc.'s coveted iPhones on Friday - at the highest prices in the world."

Check for the latest developments here, on "Belgium iPhone", a fantastic blog that popped out after the launch of the iPhone V1 with loads of precious information linked to the (ghost) Belgian market. In the meantime, I'd rather listen to that tune from The 3Gs... and agree that:  "... Belgian Cowboys... will find a way!"  ; )

 

 

Simple post...

Image via - Apollo Ideas blog

Just a thought of the day... on a Sunday evening, after being out of the agency for a week of holidays. "Simply" wondering what kind of new briefings and stories I'll get tomorrow.

 

Big Ideas (don't get any)

Big Ideas (don't get any) from James Houston on Vimeo.

 
  

Here is a little gem I just discovered via threeminds and that illustrates how creativity and talent can transform a challenge into a master piece. This short film is the work of James Houston, a student of the Glasgow School of Art who decided, for his final project, to respond to the online challenge launched by the Radiohead. The band proposed on a dedicated site a contest to remix their latest single "Nude". Here is what James did out of it. Although he was too late to enter his work within the deadline, I think he deserves a big huge online wave of applause from all of us.

Here is how James describes his quest on Vimeo :

"I've just graduated from the Glasgow School of Art's graphic design course. This was my final project.

Radiohead held an online contest to remix "Nude" from their album - "In Rainbows" This was quite a difficult task for everybody that entered, as Nude is in 6/8 timing, and 63bpm. Most music that's played in clubs is around 120bpm and usually 4/4 timing. It's pretty difficult to seamlessly mix a waltz beat into a DJ set.

This resulted in lots of generic entries consisting of a typical 4/4 beat, but with arbitrary clips from "Nude" thrown in so that they qualified for the contest.

Thom Yorke joked at the ridiculousness of it in an interview for NPR radio, hinting that they set the competition to find out how people would approach such a challenging task. I decided to take the piss a bit, as the contest seemed to be in that spirit. Based on the lyric (and alternate title) "Big Ideas: Don't get any" I grouped together a collection of old redundant hardware, and placed them in a situation where they're trying their best to do something that they're not exactly designed to do, and not quite getting there.

It doesn't sound great, as it's not supposed to.

I missed the contest deadline, so I'm offering it here for you to enjoy.

Sinclair ZX Spectrum - Guitars (rhythm & lead)
Epson LX-81 Dot Matrix Printer - Drums
HP Scanjet 3c - Bass GuitarHard
Drive array - Act as a collection of bad speakers - Vocals & FX"

PS : And I'm really wondering what my friend Tom (DirectorTom Thomas Clifford) will think about this film. ; )

  

UPDATE :

Check this film James did as he mentioned it to be his "...first ever project working with live action video". Wow! Definitely worth being pointed here as well. Read the comments on Vimeo and find out how he did it!

MTV from James Houston on Vimeo.

 

Dear marketers, are YOU... LISTENING ?

Originally uploaded by coconinoco

Today I came across a few convergent posts around the idea that "some" marketers are still not in phase with what's going on with their interconnected, web-surfing consumers' online life.
   

The first is an article published by our friend Alan Wolk (...aka Tangerine Toad from the Toad Stool) and published on AdAge: "You Are Not My Friend". Alan describes in his text how people going on Social Media platforms like Facebook or Twitter, go there to interact with their friends and NOT with brands. He says that there are indeed exception brands that are tolerated there because they are seen as the "prom king brands"; cool icons one would proudly refer to. A brand trying to engage conversation via social networks should do it with one keyword in focus : AUTHENTICITY. So instead of pretending to be a friend -as a brand- create an honest communication frequency based on the brand's real values (not built-up or dreamt about values, because there is simply no way fooling people that way). Talk as a salesperson to your target group and propose  honest and relevant added value to their experience with your brand. Lead them to your site to share your message with them, not to a social network platform.

   

The second post that did hit my attention was Katie Chatfield's brilliant shout "Get it right - Dammit!" on her blog Get Shouty. Here Katie related the story of a brand who "created" an empty online community shell and pitched the 100 top women bloggers of Australia to come there and contribute with stories, thoughts and advices... with in return a link back to their blogs. Targeted bloggers' responses were immediate and stroke like thunder. In her post, Katie also points to Joseph Jaffe, author of the books "Life After the 30-second TV Spot" and "Join the Conversation", blogger at Jaffe Juice -ranked 26 in the AdAge Top 150 Best Marketing blogs- and President & Chief Interruptor of Crayon, a new marketing company. Now, have a look at the speech he held at the recent Association of National Advertisers’ Integrated Marketing Conference, slamming 5 big brands for making big mistakes. It's a MUST SEE for the curious marketers who haven't already!  NB: Now, I apologize for taking you to AdAge VIDEO (I couldn't find the video anywhere else,  exclusive content, right!) to let you see this film AND forcing you to view a 10-sec. AD before reaching Joseph's speech... but hey... the message is definitely worth it. - Oh boy... don't we live in a world of paradoxes! ; )

The third is a post from Scott Monty : "Think Banner Ads are Effective?" -Geee... he's from Crayon too!- sharing a little fun video  named Man vs Banners Ads. Now, if banners are indeed completely trackable and measurable, let's not forget about appropriate targeting and relevant content.  Again...  it's not about fooling people, it's about giving them an honest opportunity to access relevant information about your brand.

Convinced and ready to LISTEN? If so, Chris Brogan in his blog Community and Social Media wrote a fantastic post that will certainly help you : "Five Tools I use for Listening". A simple first step into the right direction. Do you have other suggestions or "ways to listen" to share?

PS : Little out-of-the-box thingy to share with you here : the headphones pictured above by coconinoco are Grado Labs SR-80. Now these are the best -affordable- piece of audio equipment I could ever recommend if you are into music listening. They change the music you thought you were listening to into a complete re-discovery of the sound vibes - even with an MP3 player. Delightful! - And NO I'm not payed by Grado for this little post scriptum, I'm just sharing my happy customer POV. ; )

   

Drive and Talk - T-Rex fun

Nothing new really... just a little video found on a YouTube cruise. But this one caught my attention for 2 reasons. First, it's a special, fun, odd, fast, uncommon, sports vehicle... and yes... works with me like mouse and cheese. Second being... I just love these British TV presenters that nothing stops leading us into a few minutes of excellent entertainment. Introducing brilliant Tiff Needell from the TV series Fifth Gear on the British television channel Five, riding the Campagna T-Rex for a moment of hilarious, cold, wet & windy... glory.

   

Once upon a -social- time...

Being out of blogging for such a long time will not distract me from telling you a few words on "THE" extraordinary event I was lucky to attend to last April in NYC. Blogger Social was indeed such a unique, breathtaking event, that I was left literally speechless when I came back to Belgium. Believe me, I've been trying to find a way to relate how intense and authentic this moment was and just couldn't find the appropriate words. So I will simply share with you here how HAPPY I was to meet...

  

- Gavin Heaton (brother, buddy, mate, mindmelded... alien friend),
- Todd Andrlik (in Jurassic Park big Dinos vs Velociraptors phase),
- Matt Dickman (the gentle O-SO-techno marketer talented photographer),
- Anna Farmery (...with an even lovelier live voice than on her podcasts),
- Heather Gorringe (brought me a fascinating eco-Vision of social media),
- Sean Howard (dude... you rock smart, man! Man... you smart rock, dude!),
- Ann Handley (such a pleasure meeting the MarketingProfs Milady),
- Cam Beck (well, a real-real honor finally meeting you Cam!),
- Lori Magno (Wow! SO pleased to meet the O-so-fabulous YOU!),
- Steve Woodruff (a man of experience who should be Q-Listed, really!)
- Doug Meacham (wish we could have had more time to talk, Doug!),
- Darryl Ohrt (... or punk gentleman helping team finish the gift packs),
- Paul McEnany (now why was that Redbull around that shot again?)
- Arun Rajagopal (my dear friend, we simply owe you the Moon!),
- Toby Bloomberg (... the elegant Diva, with a World Wide Heart),
- Steve Roesler (conversation grows better with a sense of humor!),
- David Armano (The "Digital comrade" from the Wild Wild West),
- Thomas Clifford (Namaste Tom! Close-up on panoramic talent),
- Tim Brunelle (the effervescent-mind man with a hat - the other one!),
- Mack Collier (inspires respect and redefines the word "authentic"),
- Mark Goren (really enjoyed our chat... while spotting Duvel in NYC),
- Katie Chatfield (dear dear... it has been so flaaa flaaa flaaan-tas-tic!),
- Ryan Karpeles (discovering the brightness the of light bulbs, wow!),
- Nathan Snell (like a brief conversation being SO insightful),
- Mario Vellandi (...mon ami, Monsieur smart polyglot visionary),
- Greg Verdino (luckily didn't spill coffee on my iPhone keyboard),
- Scott Monty (the voice over of ooVoo with great news for the FPF),
- C.B. Whittemore (...mais quel plaisir de vous rencontrer, Madame!),
- Connie Reece (the amazing Lady Liberty leading us in conversation),
- Ryan Barrett (yesss...finally we met, and it was indeed a real pleasure!),
- Kristin Gorski (so brief, but just enough to trust that time does not matter!),
- David Berkowitz (David, so sorry I missed more time to share with you too),
- Jennifer Berk (great chance we could brunch and walk and chat together),
- Rohit Bhargava (too short to talk much, really... thank you for the book!),
- Susan Bird (really sorry we didn't have much time to talk Susan),
- Shashi Bellamkonda (missed time to share with you, sorry Sashi),
- Jason Falls (boy, I SO wanted to chat with ya Jason, sorry too!),
- Chris Kieff (Chris, your BS Cookies idea was excellent, thank you!),
- Matt J McDonald (short indeed... but very nice meeting you, Matt),
- Tim McHale (boy... I spotted your Ketchup bottle, but couldn't reach it!),
- Linda Sherman (Linda, it was a pleasure brunching with you!),
- Marshall Sponder (now... I just discovered your art... wow!),
- Seni Thomas (too short to really talk, but just enough to have fun, hé!),
- Alan Wolk (SO sorry we didn't get a real chance to talk live, Alan),
- Geoff Livingstone (couldn't talk with ya, but #Jaffe will tell me all, right!),

 

And of course, the friends I had already met before...

  

- Drew McLellan (brother, my friend, I really feel blessed to know you),
- Suzy McLellan (so nice meeting you again Suzy, such a pleasure!),
- Lewis Green (Lew my friend, so when do we meet again?),
- Kris Hoet (Duvel has its loyal King! Spent a fantastic time with you, buddy!),
- David Reich (such a pleasure, again, David. And what a cap you had!),
- Valeria Maltoni (O SO delighted, again... fantastica Principessa!),
- CK (the one and ONLY, magic-CK... merci for all you do and all you are).

  

And all of you BS08 attendees that I missed (shame shame shame!), but wished I could have had live conversations with. Of course this was just a first contact, a first step, a first ACTION, from "online conversation" to "reality". Time was flying as fast as ideas and discussions. "Close Encounters of the Third Kind", version brainwaves to live frequency phases. But this time, voices became faces and eyes could read the smiles between the lines. And THAT was indeed unique and will never to be forgotten. Yes, CK... you, Drew, Lori and all the BS08 team really made the world be a smaller place... through a unique, human and rich experience. THANK YOU !