From Silicon Valley With Love

Blurring Lines Between Online & Offline

2009-03-26T16:24:00Z

The distinction between what we label as "online" or "offline" is becoming increasingly blurred: Mobile devices that are location aware and easily link what you are doing to the web at all times; Amazon's iPhone app that identifies camera phone photos with product information online; websites tied to real time information like Google Street View; TVs connected to web content -- all are signs of this blending happening.

One exciting technology that is bringing together the virtual and physical worlds is Augmented Reality (AR). That's a scary name for something that is pretty cool and simple to experience. AR combines digital content like animations or information from the web and applies it on top of physical real things.

An example of this on a mobile phone is from the Augmented Environments Lab at Georgia Tech University in Atlanta. They've created a virtual pet for your iPhone. By pointing an iPhone with its camera in front of you it will display a 3D animated puppy seemingly on your desk and then allow you to pet and play with it using the iPhone's multitouch interface. Its still in beta testing and not publicly available but the embedded video demonstrates the idea well.

A way a brand has used AR in marketing is GE's Smart Grid website. Users print out a piece of paper and hold it up to their computer's webcam to see a 3D animation appear in front of them explaining the Smart Grid technology. (Disclaimer: this was done by Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, the agency I work for.)

The potential of AR is pretty cool and will be more than just a fad or techno-novelty because it is evolving and new more useful applications for it are being developed for mobiles, computers and installations. The Wikipedia page on AR has a lot of existing references.

A Live iPhone Musical Performance

2009-03-26T16:15:00Z

This video is a little geeky but fun and making the rounds here this week. The band "The Mentalists" have done a cover of New York based MGMT's "Kids" using only their iPhone and Apps. Its a good bit of marketing mojo on the web for both MGMT and the iPhone, created by other musicians/fans.

Why San Francisco?

2009-03-26T16:05:00Z

I'm starting this blog as a way to share some of the new things we are excited about coming out of San Francisco and Silicon Valley and to share some of our thinking about the challenges in digital marketing we face in the US. No one really knows the answers or what is right or wrong in this space, though we may pretend to. Digital isn't a problem to be solved, its ever changing and that's the fun part.

My background is in strategy and planning but I'm excited by how technology can help innovate and solve marketing problems in new and unexpected ways. I look at digital through two lenses: 1) what is strategically relevant and important to a brand and its customers, and not just tech-for-tech sake, and 2) what is creatively inspiring and different. You can find more about what I do at my own site: WhoIsHashem.com

Being in Silicon Valley gives us a front row seat into new innovations, companies, ideas and entrepreneurial people. There's still a great optimism here and sense of possibility. I hope this blog can be a place to share and discuss some of that with you.