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Magic’s Illusory Leap
The intersection between movies, TV, and reality occurs more than we may imagine.
There are several forward-thinking companies around the world that are developing products and technology today that will shape our lives in the future. And of these firms, there’s one that may not just change the way we see the world, but more so what we see in our own personal space.
Interesting technology, to say the least.
Now, this Wired report is from last spring. The reason for writing about it now is because the 2018 CES (Consumer Electronics Show) is happening this week, which is one of the brightest spotlights of the year for evolving technology. Here’s a Magic Leap update from a few weeks ago.
The verdict for Magic Leap is certainly cloudy at the moment. Currently, it’s safe to proclaim that looks can be deceiving for tech’s next big (potential) magic leap. It also looks like the mysterious startup team in Florida was inspired by one of pop-culture’s gold mines: TV’s ongoing science-fiction craze.
It’s science-fiction until it’s not, which is cause for excitement and concern.
Rolling Out (and Up) Innovation
The innovative process is, in many cases, exciting. At the same time, it can be dull, exhaustive and a seeming waste of time and energy.
Welcome to the happy former at the CES 2018 (Consumer Electronics Show) hosted in Las Vegas from Jan. 9-12.
Exhibit Awesome:
While still in the testing phase, the fact that a high-definition TV that rolls up like a newspaper (inside the console, of course) exists and is evolving in the right direction (up) is a thrilling reality to witness. The first real dream, beyond what’s seen and described in the tutorial above, consists of a mobile, high-definition flat screen TV that can be placed on virtually any reasonable flat surface for viewing and a myriad of digital applications. The second part of this technological roll-up dream is for newspapers, magazines and, well, any current paper-like product, to have the same flexible and multimedia functionality. Imagine a day when a buying a newspaper at a stand looks like this, in some form.
(Video borrowed from a Jan. 5, 2016 Jimmy’s Daily Planet blog post titled “Time to Fold on TV” about this very company and this very roll-up TV prototype)
Perhaps the second part of the dream can be best described as a flexible iPad in 2018. Wouldn’t surprise me if design guru Jony Ive and his Apple team are working on that very prototype for release within the next decade.
As has been stated many, many times on this blog, the day will come when entire walls in homes and buildings will be high-definition screens that will be able to serve as a television monitor for shows and gaming, as a computer, art/rotating photographs from our personal photo collections as well as downloadable world-class pieces and most anything else your mind can digitally imagine. For now, a roll-up TV that has the strong potential to become a practical reality in our family rooms within the next several years is exciting. Couple flexible tech with VR’s inevitable rise (plus various smart home applications) and we’re genuinely one small step closer to “the future” in 2015 from Back to the Future Part II.
The future — maybe not “the future” — will arrive in some form.
Whether all this evolving tech in the big picture (had to) is good for us as individuals and as a society is and should remain an ongoing, conscious (and conscience) conversation. As my headline from a couple years back suggests, the time will come to fold on TV so we can open it up in ways we haven’t yet seen or even imagined.
And that reality will not be virtual.
uNequivoCAl stAbility
Was Alabama “unequivocally” better than Ohio State in determining that all-powerful fourth and final spot in this year’s college football playoff?
The only thing that’s “unequivocal” in college football right now is the instability of, well, college football.
Put simply, there were legitimate reasons for and against Ohio State’s case to be the fourth seed in the forthcoming college football playoff next month. This coming from a lifetime Buckeyes fan. To spare you a lengthy relitigation of that fierce debate (a 51-49 decision either way), I’m going to give the megaphone to former Colorado Buffalo quarterback and Fox College Football analyst Joel Klatt. His reaction to the controversial criteria of the playoff selection committee and the playoff’s future, heard and seen yesterday on The Herd radio/TV hybrid program, was insightful and necessary.
Simplicity is one of the fastest routes to unequivocal stability and, equally important, trust. Will the influential power players of the NCAA apply Mr. Klatt’s thoughtful suggestions in the near future concerning college football’s playoff qualifications?
Perhaps, except the NCAA thrives on complicating things and Mr. Klatt’s easier and more rational format could mess all that up.
When Will VR’s Player One Be Ready?
How will customers be marketed to in the future?
Marketing, in the traditional sense, is two-dimensional. The next natural progression is three-dimensional marketing. But wait, that’s not new and exciting. That’s simply reality. The next progression from three-dimensions is four-dimensions.
Or a tesseract.
I would love to visualize a tesseract for you, but no spoilers on Jimmy’s Daily Planet (bonus point if you got that). Marketing’s next dimension is 4-dimensions in a way, in that it’s something we can’t see with our own two eyes alone. We’ll just need a helpful pair of special lenses…
Think I’m crazy for making this prediction? Think it’s absurd and foolish to make a connection between marketing real products and VR (virtual reality)?
I say think again.
Some of the most effective marketing is experience-centric. Regardless of industry, if a company is trying to sell people something by evoking an emotional connection (the “I have to have it” reaction), the ideal strategy is to personalize the sell to provide a dynamic, customizable experience. How about showing consumers what something will look like or be like in various situations as programmed by the VR experience team of each company?
Somewhere between the near and distant future, we may very well enter the next dimension of the classic “show, don’t tell” expression. Abercrombie & Fitch (or A&F), for example, is currently using interactive dressing rooms as part of their re-branding effort, in which the consumer can play music and change the mood lighting when trying on clothes.
Escapism isn’t just for the movies, it’s usually a primary driver of our emotional connection to buying all sorts of things, practical and impractical/the fun stuff.
And what better escape in the 21st century than virtual reality?
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