Category Archives: Motion

Say Goodbye to Cash

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Okay, so maybe this only applies to those attending Lollapalooza this summer. It isn’t officially time to rid ourselves of those green bills just yet. But, that does seem like a reality we are getting even closer to.

It was just announced that attendees of the three day music festival will be given wristbands to replace their wallets. Festival attendees will log their credit card information into a system and receive a bracelet using near-field connectivity technology allowing them to touch their wrist to the screen, enter a pin number and make a payment at all vendors. The wristband also function as the entry ticket for attendees so there is no way around not having one.

This is a great move forward for mobile payment systems. Not only does it make it easier for concert goers not to have to worry about carrying cash and credit cards around with them, but it’s a great sign for the future uses of devices like smartwatches. We could be approaching a time where something like a wristband will completely replace the credit card and leave cash even further behind in the dust.

What Sparks our Fire: Seeing an organization take advantage of new technologies and paving the way for innovative payment gateways at music festivals.

Where do you see the future of payments going?

Google’s Newest Technology: Cardboard

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This week Google hosted their developers conference, Google I/O where the tech giant announced a variety of updates to their Android operating system. But, seemingly the coolest thing that Google did announce came as a gift to all attendees at the end of the conference – cardboard.

Being that this is Google we are talking about, the Cardboard device is much more than what you would image from a piece a cardboard. Instead it is a full on virtual reality headset, similar to the Oculus Rift, except made of cardboard.

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All users need to do is assemble one of these devices, which is not that difficult, place their phone into it and then they can enter an entirely virtual world. Currently there are only a few apps available in cardboard since it was just launched this week. But, we can only image where this will go as a very simple and easy entry into the world of virtual reality.

This is clearly a sign of things to come though in technology. It is time for us as advertisers to start imaging how we can get our foot in the door of virtual reality and really ride the wave of this new technology.

What Sparks our Fire: How Google is able to take the simplest of materials, and make it an amazing piece of technology.

What uses can you imagine for Google Cardboard?

Lights, Camera…

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This looks like a camera, but just barely. It looks like a smartphone and a very modern camera had a baby, and in truth that’s a pretty good description of what it does. Designed by the same company that built a specialized camera that captures the entire light field (basically allowing you to focus pictures after you take them), the Lytro Illum is the consumer version of that. The broad spectrum of light capture allows you to explore perspectives, focal points, dimensions… basically turning each photo you take into a thousand possible unique variations. The Illum sports a 4″ touchscreen display which allows editing and viewing, and also allows you 8x zoom within the picture and focus by tapping.

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And this is just the camera on its own. There are computer desktop tools that will allow a user even more editing power. This camera is a photographers dream.

What Sparks Our Fire: The entire spectrum of light captured in one picture sounds like science fiction, but it’s available this July.

Would you buy this $1,500 camera for the photographer who has everything?

The Clapper 2.0

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Next up on the “Internet of Things” (at this point, putting it in quotes is probably passe), the app and gadget can do pretty much anything in your house you want it to, and see everything in the room, and attaches to the internet. So if you’re with the NSA, stop reading right now.

In addition, the gadget and app, known as Piper, attaches to devices that can be plugged in with Z Wave plug adapters, giving you remote control over anything that can be switched on and off. In essence, this functions as a set of if/then commands that allow the device to act as both an automatic light switch and a break-in alarm. For instance, if you walk into the room the lights can turn on, or if you’re not home and someone walks into the room an alarm can go off.

This system, at a price of $359, is a lot cheaper than many things we’ve seen to help internet your house, and cheaper than many home security options. The device stores data locally, so there’s no chance of lost footage, and provides vital stats for the home environment, including humidity, noise level, indoor and region temperatures. As well, a future update could include voice commands, so you could literally order the lights on as you walk into a room.

What Sparks Our Fire: Making the Internet of Things so commonplace and normal that it seems redundant to put it in quotes, like “Facebook”, or “Incandescent Light-bulb”.

Would you want a gadget like this to have full control over your devices?

All Eyes On Me

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The action cam is the oldest wearable tech that isn’t clothing. The incredible point of view videos shot from the perspective of skiers, surfers, bikers, and skydivers all come from these durable high-def little cams. Looking to add even more to the experience, Sony is upping the ante by multiplying the cameras.

The Sony HDR-AS100V is the tech giant’s next offering from CES. Up to five separate cameras can be networked together through an optional  RM-LVR1 wrist controller, giving the user a dynamic experience with cameras mounted either on different points of the body (ie. head, arms, torso, etc.) or on multiple people. Splash-proof, high definition, slow motion, and the ability to capture multiple angles at once will create an incredibly vivid and immersive experience. When combined with the PlayMemories software, the multiple viewpoints can be merged, creating a seamless video.

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The whole package will be available in March, to the tune of about $1,600.

What Sparks Our Fire: We love what we’ve seen from CES, and wearable tech definitely seems to be the thing of the future, even for extreme sports.

Would you want to document your adventures with this kind of camera?