Disney Adds a Little Magic to the Digital World

Well look at this, I'm blogging again! I hope I keep it up this time I really have missed it. Anyway, enough about me. This article's a little old, but let's talk about Disney.

Actually first let's talk about digital interaction. A number of companies have made some amazing advancements in this field and all of it is extremely impressive. Xbox One's new Kinect sensor has shown off super accurate body tracking and interaction capabilities. Companies like Nymi are combining body tracking and motion control to give users unparalleled levels of access to the world. Within the next few years (probably even less) we'll be somewhere between Minority Report and Iron Man, manipulating the digital world with our hands and bringing new life to our technology.

Enter Disney. They're magical and possibly more so behind the scenes than in those sweet costumes they wear at the theme park. Until this article, I hadn't heard about Disney Imagineers in a long time. These are behind the scenes techies who work to make the Disney experience something wondrous, imaginative, and unforgettable. These sneaky geniuses have been making some interesting adaptations to the Digital control world, adding in tactile responsiveness to the digital objects users interact with.

It's actually really cool. They've adapted little cannons that poof out little vortexes with different levels of density. The changes in the blasts of air simulate different sensations that go along with whatever it is that's going on around you. Wired compares it to the old Honey I Shrunk the Kid theater that used to be (?) at MGM. As you watched what happened on screen, mechanics in the seats would let you experience the same thing. I have a very vivid experience of feeling rats scurrying around my legs and not liking it one bit.
But think about what you could do from an experiential stand point. Imagine walking through a tunnel where you're watching the environment flourish under the influence of Disney magic, and as you meander in awe through a field of light, you can feel the flecks, warm and light as a feather brush off your hand as you brush them away. Fantastic creatures run by you at amazing speeds and you feel them jostle you or bump you to the side. A few other companies are experimenting with tactile feedback on touchscreens and and other devices but I feel like Disney could really make this technology shine and I hope it does.

On my part, as a marketer, this is the kind of thing that would go over great at a convention booth or other large scale event. I'm not sure you'd want to use something like this to slog through all the loveliness that is the human body (remember I work in pharma) but it would be a great way to add a new layer of depth to the experience of the product. It's obviously going to take some time before this kind of sensation gets out into the mainstream, where we can use it everyday, but I'd love to hear your thoughts on how sensation, even beyond touch, can enhance different types of experiences.

Read more at Wired and get at the comments section below!

The Spiritual Power of Social

What's this?! A new post! Unbelievable! Amazeballs!

It's true folks, I'm back to blogging. Hopefully consistently. It's been tough getting motivated to write after a long day at work, but this is definitely I want to keep up for personal and professional reasons, so look for more posts in the future. Now, on to the meat.

I recently read an article on Mashable about the interplay between spirituality and social media. The article summarized an interview with Deepak Chopra, a personal well-being expert with a Yogi vibe and a sick sense of digital savvy. The discussion centered around human nature becoming increasingly about being connected to not only information but other people and this necessity we feel to share and comment on everything, and not always in a positive light. Being a lover of digital media as well as an almost minor in philosophy (B- whattup!) this article intrigued me, and I want to delve deeper into a few of the areas mentioned.

First, I really like the description of social as an extension of human consciousness in a very hive-mind sort of way. Think about it. Social is our existence on a totally separate plane from our daily physical lives. It makes us one step closer to omniscient, with information constantly flowing in from various channels and what one of us knows, all of our connections know. Now, it doesn't happen instantly obviously, and let's be real, many of us will misinterpret or fail to understand the information shared, and the participants are often scattered over various platforms, but with an app here or there, the social space becomes this sort of unified hub of sharing and learning and growing.

On that same line of thinking, we also see that one comment or one share can lead to these massive chain reactions that span all sorts of personal and geographic boundaries. Take the Arab Spring revolutions where we saw the powerful ideals of a few first spark support from their peers and then almost immediately rally the emotions of people all around the world. We see the same thing when a new song, movie, game, or gadget is announced and the world goes into a frenzy. Two very different examples obviously, but the fact is, when a topic gets some heat it isn't long before it catches fire and everyone knows about the hype. I like Chopra's vision of a kind act; a simple retweet spreading wildly through the Twitterverse effecting people far removed from the original user.

The sad truth to this though is that for every kind act there is hostility. I won't deny being a part of it. There's something cathartic about being harsh and hiding behind the anonymity of a a username or old school physical distance. There's nothing wrong with being honest, but many times people are brutally honest without restraint. And other times people say things that are just irrelevant and unnecessary. Realistically it won't change; that kind of behavior is an unfortunate part of our lives. What we need to make sure we do is make that a small portion of our digital behavior and make sure that the good we do in social is powerful and meaningful.

Now Mashable also asks Chopra how we can remain grounded in our present in a world of digital connectivity and his solution, is to create separate, dedicated time for the internet. That I disagree with. It's a nice ideal, but totally unrealistic for most everyday folk. "Social media time" just isn't the design of social media! It's meant to be integrated into each and every part of our lives; cataloging our experiences and sharing them as they happen. While it is true that social and technology often bring us out of the moment, they also help us experience the moments with those most important to us, even when they can't be there themselves. It may sound stupid or annoying but there isn't one of you reading that doesn't like to send a picture of yourself to a friend or tell your followers what your doing. Of course there's over-sharing and we all have our Facebook friends that we just don't really care about or who annoy us with their incessant activity, but the idea behind social and sharing is not a bad one. It does bring us closer and helps us maintain relationships.

In closing, there are things we can work on. My girlfriend hates it when I check emails late at night but we both geek out over who can check-in to a location first on FourSquare. We really just need to approach our two worlds, physical and digital, with awareness and self-control. As it becomes more integrated into more situations in our lives the lines will blur. Chopra is mostly right though, we should focus on the positive with social. Use it for fun and have fun using it. So go share an interesting article. Like someones status. Retweet a friend. Be digitally spiritual.

RTCRM Perspectives

Hot on the tails of President's Day, RTC's Digital Integration and Innovation department imagines what types of technology former Presidents of the United States might use if they were alive today. Read on to find out which POTUS would've been a Twitter fanatic, which leader might've starred in a weekly Youtube video, and which first lady would've been the queen of Pinterest. This is also our first issue of Perspectives with cover art, illustrated by RTC's Josh Scott, and it's pretty damn cool.

Don't forget to leave your comments, and share this with your friends. And now, to the main event....

RTC Perspectives: February 2012

View more documents from RTC Agency

SOPA, the wrong way to deal with piracy

The Stop Online Piracy Act, better known as SOPA has been in the news a lot lately and for good reason. This is a controversial situation, one that if passed could dramatically change the way the internet functions...in theory anyway. Techies are fuming, digital companies are choosing sides, and media companies are crossing their fingers. Online piracy is a serious issue, but personally I don't think something as extreme as SOPA is the answer. It won't pass in its original form, Obama has already said that much, but really the core concept behind the bill I think does more harm than good.

What SOPA wants to do is force search engines to blacklist and block sites that have been accused of copyright violation. Ideally what would happen would be that a lot of those sketchy torrent sites and other illegal download hubs would be shut down, thus reducing unauthorized sharing. But if you think deeper, how does this affect social media usage? And what is the definition of ownership on the internet? Consider Youtube. Under SOPA, large portions of the video database have to be shutdown because videos were repurposed from other sites, or uploaded without permission. The authorities would have to analyze individual Facebook profiles, blogs, and other networks for any videos shared that weren't from an authorized source. Figuring out what's ok and what's not sounds like a really messy matter that will inevitably leave the web savvy public unhappy.
Legislation like this really undermines the beauty of the internet. The web is a place for sharing, searching, and discovering, and this would discourage all of that behavior. Sure a lot of sharing is done illegally, but hackers are talented and they'll continue to find ways to amass and distribute content. If the summer's attacks by Lulzsec and Anonymous are any indication, it probably isn't a good idea to make these people mad either...

So in closing, maybe instead of trying to fight piracy, companies should stop being so stiff and concerned with their bottom lines, and creatively embrace piracy. It would not be an easy endeavor that's for sure, it's a major change from the traditional business mindset, but the internet has made business anything but traditional. I would argue, that brand personality, transparency, and interaction is about as important as operations and a business plan. Encouraging sharing, or distributing select content for free could have a lot of potential benefits. First, it might increase the quality of said content, so users don't have to browse through pixely video or watch a shaky camera recording. Second, this kind of thing can do wonders for brand image. You're essentially giving the people what they want and relating to them, showing that you're not a group of stiff old men and women around a rich mahogany desk plotting how to take people's money. Encourage people to share, and talk, and get some free marketing and increased awareness. If done right, you'll probably end up driving more traffic to your site and be better off in the long run. 

SOPA has implications for everyone who uses the internet. Think about what it means for you and how it can affect others. I encourage you to sign any of the various petitions that are circulating and if you're a corporation, consider a creative alternative and maybe change the internet for the better.