Archive for the ‘interactive’ Category

A Quick Look at QR Codes

In a recent post on Korea’s Tesco Homeplus stores, we mentioned their use of QR (Quick Response) codes to make grocery shopping more convenient. QR codes are 2D codes which are readable by smartphones and are used to provide additional information on a product or service. ComScore recently released a study of QR code use; here are some of their findings:

• Approximately 14 million mobile users have scanned a QR code
• Men were 50% more likely to have scanned a QR code than women
• Over half of the people who had scanned a code were between the ages of 18 and 34
• More than 1 in 3 QR code scanners had an annual household income of $100,000 or more
• Codes were most likely to scanned at home or at a store, and were most frequently scanned from a printed magazine/newspaper or product packaging

If you’re interested in finding out ways you can enhance your business through QR code technology and mobile marketing, give us a call.

Image Credit: University of Utah

Posted by Ramona on January 29, 2012 in industry, interactive, technology

A Day Made of Glass

“Can you imagine organizing your daily schedule with a few touches on your bathroom mirror? Chatting with far-away relatives through interactive video on your kitchen counter? Reading a classic novel on a whisper-thin piece of flexible glass?”

These are the questions Corning asks viewers of “A Day Made of Glass” video. The company, which supplies the glass for iPhone screens and other high-profile pieces of technology, produced the video as a promotional tool for their investors, but it went viral upon its release to YouTube.

And we can see why the masses would pick up on a video like this. It may be a marathon 6 minutes in length (unheard of for a viral video) and contain no dialogue, but the scenes of a family going through a day in their lives assisted by incredible pieces of interactive technology (all incorporated into Corning Glass, naturally) are pretty captivating.

But what we find the most fascinating about this video isn’t the electronic day planner on the bathroom mirror, the interactive kitchen counter, or any other individual piece of technology. What’s most intriguing is the bigger picture, the overall message of the video: that technology has the ability to not just become an important accessory in our lives, but to blend seamlessly into them. The products in the video are so adaptive and so intuitive that the consumers are able to use them however they want to. There is no going out of the way to accommodate the technology.

As amazing as modern technology is and as far as it has come, it still has a long way to go in terms of being truly user-friendly. We are fortunate to have all of the technological conveniences that we do, but we also have the potential to push them even further so that they truly enhance our experience. Sure, your laptop can store and play music, connect you to the web, log your appointments and schedules, and connect you to people around the world, but is it intuitive enough to know which function it should perform at any given time? Does it sync to your life or do you have to plan your life around it?

The Corning Glass video is an example of the mindset all companies should have. You might think your products or services are enhancing your customers’ lives, but do they adapt to how your customer wants to use them? Are they intuitive enough to be flexible?

While you’re mulling it over, check out Corning Glass’s “A Day Made of Glass”:

Posted by Ramona on January 12, 2012 in interactive, technology