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South By South WestOgilvy London Labs findingsBy Will Harvey @WilliamEdHarvey

South by SouthWest is a collective collaboration of interactive, film and music aimed at sharing, and therefore more fully understanding, the developments in the technological and creative world changing all around us.

SXSW is an event that hosts everything from panels, mentor sessions, live demos and networking opportunities. It helps the visitor top up on knowledge and find inspiration from forward-thinking, visionary speakers.

SXSW is split into 3 distinct sections : Interactive, Film and Music, over10 days, which also overlap with a number of cross-over sessions.

Held every year in Austin Texas, the city is overwhelmed by 30,000 attendees. These range from small start-ups, through large, international creative agencies, technology innovators and also feature key, influential speakers and Music icons.Whilst considering the practicalities and developments in technology and manufacturing, the tech. industry knows that it needs to think

more about the consumers’ experience, rather than just the technology itself. It often needs to take a step back to allow creativity to flourish hand- in-hand with new ideas and developments.

The injection of technology and exposure of innovation as part of the creative development process is what will often help take a good idea and turn it into a great one.

This was my first experience of SXSW, and these are some of my findings.I’m happy to provide further feedback, in greater depth, if you have a Client you feel might benefit from any of the emerging trends above.

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Printed Electronics Using the traditional to create the future

There were dozens of talks/sessions looking at all aspects of creativity, technology and consumer interaction. One of the sessions brought to my attention by Robin Dhara @TheRedRobin, was a session titled ‘Can Printed Electronics save the music industry?’ In this session I was introduced to Dr Kate Stone, the Managing Director of Novalia. She and

her fellow panelists discussed and showcased a new technology that utilized the existing traditional printing process. With the introduction of charged ink, they have printed electronic circuitry onto paper.They showcased a number of projects and products that had used this: Interactive packaging, Paper instruments, TRUE wireless speakers and paper headphones. This opens up huge possibilities for the world of traditional print, through cost-effective use of printed electronics.

Trends of SXSWTop things to watch in 2012During my time at SXSW there were a number of subjects or ‘Trends’ that surfaced, from talks and sessions I attended. Here is a small selection of what stood out for me, and that I want to share.

Gaming for goodOne of the the key expressions I picked up was ‘Gaming for good’. In its basic form; playing games and receiving good rewards for your gaming achievements. Gaming is growing up and the industry as a whole is starting to be seen as an agent for change. An example might be that British Gas could start motivating its consumers that already game the opportunity to embrace everyday green behaviour whilst doing so, offering real, tangible rewards using promotions or money-off on a sliding scale, based on how much they reduce their consumption of resources and carbon footprint.

Me-TVWith consumers being bombarded with content from so many channels now, we are going to need to find a way of viewing what we want with out having to wade through everything else this is where ‘Me-TV’ comes in. Creating personalised entertainment channels, able to streamline access to content you really want to see through the media channels you like and use. This will evolve through identification and analysis of consumer’s behaviour, interaction & preferences, delivering true user-focused services.

Sonic interfaceWith the continuing integration of electronics into more and more aspects of our daily lives the use of ‘Sonic Interface’ is the next evolution of natural user’s interface. Examples of this are already becoming part of the home with products such as Kinect, utilising inputs such as voice command, recognition and gesture control, this shows very basic early possibilities for this natural next step, from touch to swipe, from type to speak.

Co-sharingAnother trend that was mentioned a lot in the build up and during the event itself was ‘Co-Sharing’. Digital technology allowing anyone to find an object or service they need, when they want it, where they want it.Rather than finding and purchasing products and services from retailers or large corporations, enabling co-sharing

in the digital space means these items are more often found in the hands of other people - perhaps neighbours, or even like-minded people even a great distance away. An example of opening up new services & co-sharing possibilities might be a peer-to-peer car sharing service, (perhaps Ford might embrace this new branding opportunity?..)

Social PairingPeople with similar interests, hobbies and needs have the opportunity to meet today through smart services that take a mix of social, location and demographic data to create ‘Social Pairing’. A drinks brand could take your check-ins & suggest people who like the same local, and pair you up with them and offer promotions if you go to that venue together.

“SXSW Interactive often serves as a petri dish for testing out new ideas and innovations.”

Forrester Blog

“The show, dubbed ‘geek spring break’ by some, has grown beyond it’s music and film roots to become a gathering spot for venture capitalists and some of the biggest stars in the tech world.”

CNBC

Printed HeadphonesThe uses of Charged ink could change the way we create printed material, to make it more digital engaging and opening up new creative possibilities.

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Truly Social Television

Social television is now upon us, ready or not. An entire community of viewers simultaneously login to Twitter, Facebook, Google+ to name a few. Discussing current shows, sports and programming live, this community are ignored at brands’ peril. Whole new channels of content are being created around what people are watching on tv, giving live insight into opinions of brands and programming. This original, instant, honest, content, fed back to advertisers provides better understanding, and so enhances and makes the content they are delivering more impactful.

Everyone at SXSW agreed that SM is not just another platform, it can be a different way to tell a story as a co-companion and to enrich to a more mainstream approach. Expert SM teams need (from the very beginning) to be part of the initiation process of an idea, opening up and creating a more immersive experience for the viewer, adding new and interesting interactions between the user and the brand to create a truly immersive watching and brand experience.

An example covered in one talk I attended was Superbowl ‘12. Coke ran an animated polar bear campaign in ad breaks in the game, plus a live video stream of the CG bears reactions to the game. Coke were monitoring the twitter # around the game and took the games’ score & user comments to feed into the breaks that followed, and the simultaneous video feed of the bears watching the game to created a more personalised and viewer-tailored experience.

Changing the ChannelOne of the most packed sessions was chaired by Hulu and had ‘Supersize Me’ maker Morgan Spurlock and comedian Timothy “speed” Levitch talking about the changing delivery of television content and its future in relation to the on-demand non- linear broadcasting television environment. They discussed consumers demands from services like Sky+ and iPlayer.

One of the subject areas that came up was 'Destination viewing' the linear style of television broadcast where you have to be at the right place at the right time to view the content you want. Summary is that users are more than ever in control of what they watch, when they want, where they want. Therefore, with the on-demand power now firmly in consumer’s hands, and the Internet in their pocket, a whole new series of challenges face ‘traditional’ ad methodology and channels and call for it to evolve and adapt to user’s wants and needs, not the other way ‘round. It was discussed in various forums that this must be seen and embraced as generating new openings and possibilities, not as a negative, giving yet more reason for serious re-assessment of the role that ‘conventional’ TV ads play in the future for certain audiences. Innovative ideas, new approaches such as 2 screen viewing & audio triggering create a more immersive, rich experience for a viewer, surely a good thing?

“People don't want to be told they have to fit their lifestyle around a TV Schedule, the consumer wants the programming to fit round them with the use of on-demand services” Morgan Spurlock

Television is Dead : Long Live TVThe Golden age of TV

Speakers Every year SXSW host a number of panels with a wide range world-renowned speakers and this yesr showcased the greatest and most influential people in the Media and innovation space.

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“NFC technology can’t be relied on to be used as just a means of payment, vested interest would be good for consumers by looking at extended possibilities. ...an elderly person can’t remember all the numbers of her family members & finds it difficult to use a ‘phone , ..enabling the photos she has in the house of her family with a RFID chip, she would be able to touch her phone to her pictures to call them....’ James Davies

With Near Field Communication (NFC) starting to be integrated into a number of manufacturer’s handsets, what does this mean for contactless data transfer and its possible applications?

NFC is not really a new technology. Its early form was known as RFID, a passive technology used in a number of everyday objects from key cards to Oyster cards.NFC is now an active technology, allowing the transfer of data between devices and there were many discussions at SXSW about its possible applications going forward.

One of the key areas where the technology will be adopted on a larger scale is the mobile payment space. A lot of financial providers are talking about contact-less payments and electronic wallets : Visa, American Express and Google for a start.Right now there are a number of Card providers that are using contact-less technology in the new generation of cards, Starbucks, Itsu already do and some taxi companies are too.

But at SXSW there was talk about the true adoption of the technology by the everyday user and until the larger manufacturing companies build it into future iDevices the true potential use of it has yet to be fully unlocked.

EXAMPLE: An elderly lady lives alone and struggles to operate her mobile phone struggling to remember the numbers of her family members. What you could it is enable the photos she has around her house with RFIF stickers on the back, each individually programmed to call that family member in the photo. All she would have to do is tap her phone to the picture to call her family , no need to remember or type in propels numbers.

This is an example of the kind of real world use that the technology can bring to people’s everyday lives, thinking outside the as yet small mobile payment box. The possibility of using NFC in other spaces, not just as a form of payment is a very exciting one and makes you think about what other real world ‘contact experiences’ could embrace the use of the technology.

NFCNo Freaking Chance

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Whilst at SXSW you get a chance to be exposed to fresh thinking Start-Ups from around the world that could be the next Foursquare or Instagram. Here’s a collection of who you might want to keep an eye on...

Start-up SelectionSee what is up and comingBy Trenz Pruca

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ShopcadeShopcade is a social shopping application on Facebook that connects people to shop and recommend products together and get rewarded for it. You can shop trending products recommended by your friends and people you trust, as well as become a trendsetter by recommending products you love. Whenever you buy via others' Shopcades, or others buy via yours, you both get rewarded

The App BuilderCreate an iPhone, iPad, Android & Windows ‘Phone app. for free in minutes. You have compete flexibility to change the tab icons, headings and order, and you can even publish your Facebook posts, Vimeo videos and Google Doc forms. Insert your own content, logo and splash screen, to ensure your brand or business is presented to your audience in the very best way.

Condition oneCondition ONE is a technology company developing next generation immersive video applications. Their flagship product is an embeddable immersive video player for the iPad, which is licensed to media companies and brands. Condition ONE creates the powerful emotional experiences of being there.

Product Resarch StudioThe Product Design Research Studio is based in at the University of Dundee – as part of the College of Art, Science and Engineering located in the Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art. They are a group of researchers, tutors, PHD students and designers. PAPER APPS is three and a half years of exploring potential applications for paper electronics.

BanjoBanjo is a mobile application that taps into the biggest social networks to provide an on-the-ground view of what’s happening anytime, anyplace. Banjo creates a new level of social relevance by linking multiple networks so you can explore and discover the people and places you would otherwise miss.

SwitchCamSwitchcam is a new video site for watching any event, from every angle. Using eye-witness videos on YouTube and other sites, Switchcam automatically reconstructs your favorite real life events like concerts and sports games so that you can share the event experience - even if you weren't there.

GoosechaseGooseChase is an intense scavenger hunt platform for the masses. You can easily join huge international games or create a custom hunt for you and your buddies. For competitive people, in-app leader boards and photo feeds heat things up very quickly. It's bold, crazy and highly addictive.

GrandstandGrandstand is a platform that transforms social and mobile actions (check-ins, likes, tweets, and SMS) into real-time social games and eye-popping data visualizations, allowing brands, agencies, retailers, stadiums, or any venue with a display to reward their crowd and enhance their overall visitor experience.