AGENT X Digital+Live Awesomeness Awards w5

Posted on March 16, 2012 by Josh Stauffer

The fresh list of Digital+Live stuff from this week includes casino openings, hollywood scale models and the entire history of the universe. Give it a look and drop us a line.

For the grand opening of the Holland Casino Scheveningen a full scale interactive building projection that included robotic arms and infrared views of the casino’s interior got the crowd pumped up before the ceremony. It also allowed the first ball to be thrown into a projected roulette wheel while the crowd watched. Check it out…

Unit9 premiered this little gem at FITC Amsterdam 2012. Created using Unity and the Adobe AIR platform in Flash the game allows up to 3 people to play at once using their smart phones or tablets as controllers. Defending the city from an alien invasion while attempting to keep your errant frisbees from ramping up civilian loses sounds like a ton of fun to me. This is another great example of HTML5 Websocket technology being put to great use in public settings and it should be on sale soon in the App Store just in time for your next BBQ. Check it out…

Ever wonder what the history of the universe might look like if it was laid out on a timeline? Neither have I, but now that I’ve seen it I’m pretty fascinated by this tool. ChronoZoom is an open source community collaboration from Berkley, Microsoft Research and Moscow State University that allows users to visually navigate through the last 13.7 billion years. You might be humbled by exactly how small the existence of humankind is in relation to everything else that has happened. Check it out…

Now on to something a bit less serious but potentially just as impressive. The 50 foot wide scale model of Hogwarts castle that was used to film all of the movie series exterior shots is a piece of art and now you can take a look at it for the first time outside of the silver screen. The model has 2,500 fiber optic lights, hinged doors and it’s own lighting system. No wonder it took 86 artist roughly 74 years of combined human life to build it. Check it out…

AGENT X Digital+Live Awesomeness Awards w4

Posted on March 9, 2012 by Josh Stauffer

Alright, we’ve got a pretty big line up here. Everything from mapping out concentration levels in the minds of children, to capturing nature hikes in step-by-step 360 degree technology. With all of this new technology emerging its still clear that the real gems don’t just use the new tech, they use it for something that no one else thought of. Take a look at some of the best new projects you’ve never heard of before now. If you’re looking for someone to help you pull off something like this please feel free to drop us a line.

Varier asked B-Reel to help them out with creating designs for their new Variable Balans children’s desk line. Since the product was designed specifically to help kids concentrate B-Reel decided to see exactly what that might look like. They invited three children to help design the chairs by mapping out their brain activity and concentration levels and then using the resulting output as a basis for their designs. I’d hate to think what the fourth design would have looked like if they invited me to try it out. Check it out…

Wonderwall Studio is doing something both green and great at the same time. I think this is a much better route then a gaudy primary color as an accent wall for your office, but hey you don’t have to take it from me. Combine the unique look with the fact that even someone as clumsy as me could put this up with a nail gun and a level and I think the product pretty much sells itself. Check it out…

Ponk combines the best of old school classic gaming and new technology by grafting Pong and Kinect. If you’re looking to rent this thing or partner up they seem to be open to that idea as well. The videos of people demonstrating the Ponk table look pretty fun, I just hope the top of that thing is spill proof. Check it out…

City Peaks is a microsite created by London based agency Digit. In order to encourage their own employees to be more active and use the stairs instead of the lift they installed RFID card readers on the bottom and top of the building. The resulting microsite tracks each persons progress as they race to reach to top of famous London skyscrapers. This is a pretty interesting behavior modification program with it’s own set of motivations, sure Nike Fuel and Fitocracy boast huge social networks with loose social pressure but creating the same system in a microcosm certainly seems effective as well. Check out the project and then check on their progress…

Nature Valley Trail View is the child of Google Street View technology and National Park Splendor. Instead of imagining what it might be like to hike through the Grand Canyon you can instead step through the 360 degree views of the trail second hand. Which is great for guys like me who are terrified of tripping and falling into gorges. If the Grand Canyon isn’t really your cup of tea you can try out Yellowstone or the Great Smokies. Check it out…

AGENT X Digital+Live Awesomeness Awards w3

Posted on March 2, 2012 by Josh Stauffer

Sorry for the delay in this weeks post, an unfortunate family-wide bout of the Norovirus pushed getting this up for a few days. Regardless of the delay hopefully there’s something in here for you to grab some inspiration from, it’s all pretty awesome as the title implies.

The University of Oregon’s new Ford Alumni Center was built by a group called Second Story. It’s one of the coolest media installations I’ve ever seen. If anyone out there is looking for a great example of how to do something like this the right way, this is it. It even has it’s own CMS system that allows the alumni center workers the ability to update and edit content themselves, I’ve got a feeling enrollment might be on the uptick for these guys. Check it out…

After using this app for a week I’m still just as excited about it as I was when it was still in development. I really can’t speak highly enough of its UI, as it’s the perfect marriage of native interface and intuitive gestures. Sure it doesn’t have all of the over-complicated things like calendar integration or push notifications built into deadlines but the pure simplicity of the app lends itself toward a more flexible and useful tool. Also my wasteful use of post-it notes has declined by 100%, which would make this the first app I’ve ever used with a positive green impact. Check it out…

Alright, if you don’t have a soft spot for collectible plastic nonsense then you’ll have to excuse me for this section ahead of time. I think these are pretty clever and perfectly retro, but then again I’m a huge fan of the original Transformers, Star Wars, Comic Books and of course quick file transfers between co-workers. Check it out…

Bear 71 is a pretty unique mix of documentary, technology and imagination. After watching a short intro you get to explore the rest of the interactive map on your own as the site pieces together the issues created when mankind expands and the animal kingdom is forced to adapt. Check it out…

AGENT X Weekly Digital Awesomeness Awards v2

Posted on February 23, 2012 by Josh Stauffer

This week has gone by pretty quick but I managed to snatch a few gems out of the ether to share with everyone. From browser based flash games that highlight the rise of device interoperability, to analog versions of the fridge, theres a little something for everyone. Check it out and drop a comment at the bottom, cause you know you want to!

Jihyun Ryou is bringing back old school food storage. It never fails, every few weeks I go to grab vegetables out of the crisper and they’re nothing but mush, then I remember that I bought then half a month ago. Maybe something like this could help me out, at the very least it would cut down on my electric bill and make my house a bit more green. Check it out…

Mammoot Control is a retro style flash arcade game built by German based UFOMAMMOOT which utilizes the new websocket protocol. The game allows you the option of using you’re iPhone as a game controller instead of a keyboard. Considering what we do in the realm of live events, something like this seems like a solid hit for a brand if utilized in the right way. Check it out…

When I was a kid I loved everything LEGO, but Max Shepard’s biomimetic(yeah don’t worry, I had to look that one up as well) robot arm made from 100% LEGO parts puts anything I ever made to shame. Of course LEGO didn’t make things like linear actuators when I was a kid. Check it out…

$fract$

Matt gets the credit for passing this one along to me and even though I’m no musician this video got me pretty excited to try out this thing. It’s like a great mix of the new Tron movie with the puzzle based play-style of Myth and a synthesizer laced overtop of it. This gem is being cranked out by a three man shop called Phosfiend Systems in Canada and they have a great dev blog themselves over at fractgame.com.

Showcase for Dutch artist Casper Faasse’s work with a flash / html hybrid site that allows for great SEO and multimedia content delivery. I especially like the way he reinforces the physicality of your own computer screen by pressing the iPad up to it while displaying his work. It’s subtle yet very clever, in a world full of sites that attempt to draw you into the screen he chooses instead to remind you of it’s existence. Check it out…

The Sphere

Posted on February 2, 2012 by Josh Stauffer

We’ve been working with this piece of technology for about a year now and the more we do with it the more possibilities we seem to unearth. In its most simplistic form the sphere is a pretty cool and novel piece of technology that lends itself well to group settings and events. It can be used for things as simple as projecting video in 360 degrees or as complex as fully interactive touch sensitive applications built to spec for clients. But where we’ve begun to really see some cool new possibilities is the area of mobile device interoperability.

This idea here is to build up an application for the sphere that can allow for multi-player cooperative game play using your mobile device as a controller and possibly even motion capture from a Kinect to create a engaging experience that will become the RnD framework for client pitches later.

We’ve also been looking into interesting ideas of combining AR (Augmented Reality) and the Sphere, heres a look at a screenshot grabbed out of one of our iPads running a prototype app to test if the curvature of the sphere would throw off the image recognition software, initial success seems promising in this area.

Here are some videos of the initial prototype apps we’ve created for brands like Symantec and Redbull to help illustrate soem use cases for the sphere specific to their own brands.

The two major challenges we have here are hardware and software. From the hardware perspective we already have a pretty solid framework to start from since were dealing with a mostly complete product and modifying it to fit our needs. The custom lens, projector equipment, LED touch ring and sound system have already been tested out and are ready to go. Aside from that the rest of the hardware will end up off site in the form of a server and wireless network setup.

The software component of this is where the real tricky parts are going to come into play. In the past we’ve used Unity 3D to facilitate prototype development for the sphere and right now we are planning to use it for this RnD project as well. From there were going to need to hook in Touch OSC and some multiplayer capability for the prototype.

Right now we’re focused on getting some open source components up and running on the device so we can test out the general functionality and get a better idea of the strengths and weaknesses of each software option.

Consumers LOVE the word “free.”

Posted on March 5, 2010 by Jill Wolgemuth

Consumers LOVE the word “free.” Even more so in recent years. We love it so much that we go out of our way to get some freebie that we don’t even need. Free pen? Yes please. Free t-shirt? Sure! Free dessert? I’m full from dinner and really don’t need… well okay, it’s FREE!

On the flip side, someone has to pick up the tab; when paying for the free ‘swag’ companies often find it difficult to see the value in giving things away for free (rightfully so). In the past, we could only assume that our message would get out there to increase brand awareness and visibility. What if you were able to measure the number of impressions you gained to truly gauge the value of the campaign? With the addition of online forums, social venues and blogs, it’s now easier than ever to measure success and ROI even when you’re giving it away for free.

Continue reading →

Event measurement is a science

Posted on November 10, 2009 by Jill Wolgemuth

Frequently there is little thought to why a company should (or should not) attend an industry event or tradeshow. Justifications of “we have always gone”, “it would be noticed if we were absent”, and “all of our competition will be there” aren’t really valid business reasons, and more importantly impossible to gauge as a success (or failure).

Evaluating event participation, and the metrics that determine success, aren’t as fuzzy as most people think. There are solid ways of measuring event success that are usable for every sized business in every sized event.

The best article I’ve found that explains key measurement metrics is The Five Key Metrics of Event Marketing. I’ve summarized the main points below.

KEY METRIC 1: TOTAL COST OF THE EVENT

Expense vs. investment. Expense is any out of pocket costs related to the event. Investment includes out of pockets plus your day-to-day overhead, including salaries of all those involved.

“Either calculation is valid. Simply be clear when you are reporting your numbers which approach you have taken, and be consistent over time.”

KEY METRIC 2: REACH AND FREQUENCY

The number of unique prospects that attend each event and if, and how often, they attend in the future. Are you communicating to your target audience and building a lasting relationship with them? Do they find your events valuable? Or do you get a bunch of tire kickers looking for a free pen or tee shirt? Maybe a tee shirt isn’t the best way to reach out to your audience…

“Tracking reach and frequency over time can help you gauge the effectiveness of your promotional efforts, as well as to assess the perceived value attendees find in your events.”

KEY METRIC 3: BUSINESS VALUES OF ATTENDEES

Knowing how much potential each prospect has can be helpful when determining the true value of an event. Getting thousands of attendees may feel like a success, but if they’re not the right audience that will bring in the money, you could be wasting your time.

“It’s one thing to know that 75 people attended your event. It’s another to know that those 75 people represent $750,000 in potential business. This number is called customer or prospect lifetime value, and can be a powerful guide in helping you determine which events — and which attendees — merit your time and budget.”

KEY METRIC 4: SHARE OF VISITS

Used to measure the number of people that attend your event compared to competing events in the industry. What makes other events successful in attracting valuable attendees from your key market? If you are attending a tradeshow as an exhibitor, defining this metric is important in knowing which events have the most value and bring in the right attendees.

“Tracking this number over time can tell you if you are gaining or losing ground to your competition for attendees’ limited time and dollars.”

KEY METRIC 5: RETURN ON INVESTMENT

Are you spending your event budget wisely? What are you truly gaining from each dollar you spend? You cannot answer either question until you define goals and establish what success means to your company for each event. Is it to maintain your space in the industry? Announce a new product or service? Gain the attention of the media? Obtain as many leads as possible whether they’re on or off strategy? Are you only interested in qualified leads? If so, what makes a lead qualified? Maybe it’s all of the above…

Regardless of what determines the success of your event, it is very important to define it at the beginning, and communicate it to all who will be involved in the event (from planning to execution).

Of course, if you need a hand, feel free to give us a call.

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