Another Device To Yet Have a Use

On the heels of my last post comes this gizmo from Google Labs, the AR eyeglasses.
Who needs a screen and interface in front of your hands when you can have one in front of your eyes?
While it too has yet to reach the level of really new media, it is ripe for really-new-media thinking.

Another Tech Still To Become Really New Media

Here's another example of an intriguing technical capability. It has yet to reach the level of really new media because no one yet know quite what to do with it. But, hey! Just the details...
Matterport is a means by which you can capture 3D environments for later use and manipulation. Now, why I'd want to do that with my office, home, kitchen, etc., I'm not sure. Nor why I'd want to inflict it on others!
But, like my earlier post about Bing Maps and AR, before, this demonstrates not only an intriguing capability yet to be anchored into a compelling use. It also demonstrates the high degree to which the thinking behind media still lags behind technical developments, instead of taking place with them.

Make Room, Make Room!

A recent piece in Ad Age notes how important it is to get digital developers (the guys who know all the technical ins-and-outs) to the concepting table with the copywriters, art directors, and creative directors.

Couldn't agree more (especially since I noted the same point in an earlier post.)

Shine a Light on Me

After a dearth of good creative work in really new media recently, along comes this notable effort from Sony Ericsson (try not to let the sugary-sweetness of the video recap get to you).

What makes it notable is that it isn't simply a slick, technical demonstration. It's also not yet another online game or competition (anyone else getting sick of these?).

Instead, it's wrapped within a general human need. How many of us are perked up in our day by someone touching bases with us, just to say hi and that they're thinking of us?

The creative team took this insight some great steps further. And demonstrating some specific capabilities of the phone to boot.

In recognizing the social basis of personal relationships, this exemplifies some great thinking right in line with really new media.

Dash Away, Dash Away All

Here's a piece of out-of-home advertising that really gets the heart racing...

The sports-shoe manufacturer Asics set up a 60-foot video wall in the Columbus Circle subway station in New York City to see how close you can come to leading U.S. marathoner Ryan Hall's 4:46 average pace he sets over the course of the 26.2-mile race.

Reminiscent of other, similar kinetic out-of-home displays such as Volkswagen's efforts in its "Fun Theory" series, this shows how to pay off a brand message through action, not just reading. Lace 'em up and stretch out!

Living Well With Digital

Kip Voytek, partner with MDC, is a novel combination of geekazoid and humanist thinker while working with one of the largest marketing services agencies in the world. He's able to toss Emerson, Montaigne, and Shakespeare together with "The Matrix" and refs to Wikipedia.

His imaginative and energetic five-minute spin here about making your way in the digital world shows this eclecticism, and is fun(ny) to boot.

Hunt for the New

The pace of creating new devices continues to increase. This recent posting in "I Have an Idea" surveys the most recent lot of them. (No, this poor guy in the image doesn't have a bad case of acne; read the article to see what the heck's really going on.)

While I can understand its gee-whiz wonderment at these devices, it's not yet clear how they might be used for telling compelling stories and for creating compelling forms of involvement.

While it's important to keep a finger on the pulse of new devices, it's just as important to remember that devices are only one part--and, frankly, an increasingly small part--of what really new media are all about.