Augmented laziness

Augmented laziness published on 4 Comments on Augmented laziness

This is what happens when augmented reality becomes too accessible.

How long will it be until we all rely on augmented reality way too much?
Like we already do, with mobile phones, internet, social media and google.

Augmented reality (AR) is a term for a live direct or indirect view of a physical real-world environment whose elements are merged with (or augmented by) virtual computer-generated imagery – creating a mixed reality. The augmentation is conventionally in real-time and in semantic context with environmental elements.

Augmented reality has actually been around for years (eg: sports scores overlaid on TV during a match screening, or a “heads up” display for a Fighter Pilot).

However, having it accessible through mobile devices is about to take this to a whole new level.
This will be the new way to get information. Having this technology integrated with mobile devices makes it so easily accessible that we will not think twice before accepting what it says as the truth.

Augmented reality is already abeing used in many different iPhone apps and online.
Check out these 35 Awesome Augmented Reality Examples.

It is going to offer us a whole new world, which s ome will choose to keep their distance from, and others will attempt to live inside of constantly.

For me, I look forward to the day that I can use the technology to guide me to where I left my car keys.

He has never facebooked

He has never facebooked published on 11 Comments on He has never facebooked

Do you also find it amazing that some people still do not use facebook?

Isn’t there a law or something, that says everyone should be using some form of social media by now?

I am from an age group that watched the internet get born & flourish. I had no twitter, facebook, identica, myspace, bebo, etc when I was younger.

My triple screen was way more awesome that these double screen games that everyone else had.
My triple screen was way more awesome that these double screen games that everyone else had.

Heck, I even remember playing computer games on a black & green screen that were run from data on a cassette tape!

I recall showing my friends “PONG” and they were astounded.

There was even the time that I was king of the school for about a month, when I got a handheld Donkey Kong Jr game that had 3 – count ’em3 screens!

Now, even after growing up through all of the electronics progresses of the 80’s to now, I am sometimes very surprised to learn that someone is NOT using twitter, facebook, etc.

I am not alone in this. The younger generation just expect that people are using the same online tools as themselves.

People who don’t, get shunned in the same way that when I was young, you got shunned for still playing Pacman on a tabletop machine rather than a handheld device.

It is amazing how quickly we are accepting of new services & technology, and just think of them as “the norm”.

I wonder how long it will be now, until we laugh at people for using twitter or emial, rather than Google Wave??

Unfollowing Indiana

Unfollowing Indiana published on 7 Comments on Unfollowing Indiana

Don’t you hate it when you try online actions in the real world, and they won’t work?

Sometimes I get mixed up and I end up subconsciously trying to do things that I do all the time online, but in the real world.
At other times, I try to do things on my laptop, which only work on my iPhone.
For example, I was typing a document in Word recently and tried to add a full stop to the end of the sentence by hitting the space bar twice. This is how it works on my iPhone and my subconscious, or muscle memory, or whatever, just decided that was what I needed to do.

I find that I have quite a lot of these little occurences happen to me. Mostly, I just forget about them straight away.
But I know they are there. Haunting me. Mocking me.

I dread the day that I try to leave a conversation at a party or a networking seminar, by looking for the speakers ‘unfollow’ button…

Is it just me or has it happened to you as well?

Failed online gaming

Failed online gaming published on 2 Comments on Failed online gaming

When World Of Warcraft & Nintendo join forces, it can only end badly.

The collaboration shown in my comic has not happened, of course – but if it did, it would be sure to fail miserably.
I think that trying to have the Wii users and WOW users work togethor on a common platform would be harder to orchestrate than world peace.

Unfortunately, this collaboration could well be something that is on a gaming marketing executive’s “brainstorm” list somewhere.

Lets face it, worse ideas have been pitched by marketers of games – and some have actually been followed up on!

Some recent failed gaming marketing ploys include  Sony’s Failed PSP Viral Marketing Stunt and recently, EA’s “Sin to Win” contest for Dante’s Inferno

There are also too many examples of cross-promotional merchandise that marketers have pushed onto the consumer public.
Check out these 6 Crappy Items Marketed Towards Gamers, such as :

– Caffeinated Soap
– Video Game Champion Glove
– Game Fuel (which was Mountain Dews attempt to cash in on Halo 3)

Crosspromotion and co-branding is a way of life in marketing and many online games (I am looking at you, Second Life) even include branding opportunities within them.

This can sometimes be very successful.
But in my view, even when they succeed, it still feels like a sell-out.