HCI evolution - steps in the right direction…

Microsoft announces the release of it’s Kinect SDK. This allows the use of the Kinect HCI to be used on computers (Windows only). The video on the link shows some pretty amazing (but non-mainstream) labs. I would have loved to see someone use this along with a 3D monitor…

While the concept is great, I think we are at least a couple of Kinect generations away from the Spielbergian ‘Minority Report’ vision. The Kinect simply does not have the resolution to identify individual fingers and subtle 3D movements.

I cannot really imagine a scientist standing in front of a really large screen and waving her arms about to try to manipulate a 3D model of the DNA – or an Air Traffic Controller doing a dance routine trying to manage a 3D air control model.

BUT… this is a step in the right direction… a new way to interface with computing devices

Convergence… Build Once… Deploy everywhere

Adobe announced the release of Flash Builder 4.5 – the really neat thing about this the fact that you can build a flash application which can be deployed on all the current platforms – both mobile and non-mobile – including iOS.

 

The neat trick is that the single developer environment creates different “native” packages for each of your selected target systems. So now it does not matter if Apple decides to not support Flash – the tool can yet be used to build native applications.

 

Facebook has decided to beat Apple using another tactic – leverage HTML 5. This version of HTML allows designers to create rich interfaces in HTML and is natively supported by the Safari browser which is part of iOS. Other browsers such as IE9 and Mozilla too support it…

So either leveraging HTML 5 or Flash Builder 4.5 – you can build your mobile application once and use it on all the devices.

 

Microsoft – are you listening???

Simplicity Rules… the rise of the Mobile App…

A recent report by by Mary Meeker, partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers showed for the first time that time spent on mobile applications has surpassed that for browsing on the TCD (tethered computing device – the venerable computer/laptop). Most of the time (47% and 32%) are spent on Social and Gaming apps.

Top 10 Mobile Internet Trends (Feb 2011)

View more presentations from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers

So does this mean the TCD is dead – no it actually means that computing has really reached the masses. This is very similar to the Wii situation in the gaming industry. When it was released the traditional gaming platforms – PS and XBOX, catered to the hardcore gamer. Wii provided an interface which allowed families to play games. Mobile devices are providing a similar disruptive impact to computing – they have brought it to the masses.
A large set of TCD users were forced to use computers, simply because there was no other option. They did not really need the power and versatility these devices provide. Now that the mobile devices are capable of meeting their day-to-day needs these users are moving away from the TCDs and using the simplest tool which meets their needs – the mobile device.
This change has reflected in the sales of mobile devices surpassing those of computers & laptops. Companies whose core business is providing computers have recognized this and started either producing their own devices (DELL) or acquired companies making these devices (HP).
In the digital marketing world it is important to understand this shift and address it. New strategies for content, communication and engagement are required. It will be interesting to see how the next couple of years shape up.
We live in interesting times…

The Content Publishing Enigma – Control!!!

Just saw an interesting post on mashable – Tiffany & Co. Releases User-Generated Map of World's Romantic Moments. While the idea of the application itself is not galvanizing, the comment by Lauren – that they would have been better served if they had leveraged existing platforms such as Facebook or Tumblr – really caught my eye. I am not sure of the thought process that might have gone on at Tiffany to create the micro-site, but can relate to the central issue of control of the content.

Companies while on one hand are trying their hardest to embrace the concept of content travel, they have not yet figured out a way to address the issue of partial content reuse. If you put content on someone else’s platform, you have no control over how that content gets reused. The issue with this “uncontrolled” reuse is the legal and/or the social liability the company would face in case of any improper usage.

The strange bit is that improper partial usage is not really prevented by hosting the content on your own site – as is evident by all the phishing scams going on, forget your content, even your sacrosanct logo is not safe in these cases. Of course, the law understands this – as do the general public… no one feels badly about Paypal even after they have been scammed using the Paypal name.

So while there is a possibility of misuse, it is important for companies to weigh the benefits of leveraging social platforms – the fact that it makes it easy for your content to live far beyond your focussed marketing spend, the fact that individual elements may far outlive and outperform the whole, the possibility that creative reuse and repurposing of your content may provide access to a whole new audience that you never intended in the first place.

As companies embrace the new rules of the social – the always connected – the “120 characters or less” – CONTROL will be the enigma.