Ambiant media 2.0

My friend Bill has been getting very excited recently by 3D & 'smart' projections.

Is this the future of ambient media for brands in public spaces he asks - well they are more than next generation supermarket floor graphics.

Full 360⁰ 3D projected objects here. (just ignore the massive rig that holds it!)

Stunning blowing grass 'smart' video wall here

The people who built the above are here. 

Drawing coming alive here.

The last one is an older MIT project - remember these guys also spent years trying to recreate the Princess Leia projection scene from Star Wars, The book  Being Digital by Nicholas Negroponte had a bit about this ultrageek project.

The trouble often with this type of tech' is the size of the rig needed to make it work, so it ends up only being seen by delegates to the Berlin photocopier expo on the stand for the launch of the new Canon GP335-xq. rather than some really innovative lateral visual experience. Not with standing the fact porn and gaming are going to be pretty awesome on any of these three.

On the subject of oversized back-ends. one of the sweetest things about Honda's teenager sized Asimo robot is that it takes a staff of 50 to run him/her/it in public. There is a slightly creepy charm to technology when 50 people with very big brains spend there waking days looking after a child like figure - that is not really alive.

Final thoughts on the video's above. it  is clever stuff BUT Google Earth 4.0 with the 3D buildings turned on, can be as much as most people can handle. The fuzzy bit between reality and dream does unsettle the untrained eye. The proof if needed is the fact that acid never gained the popularity of E despite being cheaper and lasting longer. The element of human control is a deeply ingrained emotion. People are easily spooked when the ability to control your environment is unsettled or at the very least misunderstood (looks solid = is solid)

Any brand taking on these technologies needs to keep charm higher than wow for any messages to take hold.