The Final Demo Microsoft had at Advertising Week was for Kinect previously known as Project Natal. Kinect is a peripheral for the Xbox 360 that removes the controller from the equation entirely. Like the Wii before it Kinect is meant to expand the gaming audience even further for the platform.
It launches November 4th 2010 in North America (for more information on Kinect click here) and Mark Young the General Manager of Microsoft Advertising gave everyone a live demo of the technology using Kinectimals. If you think a game couldn’t give you a toothache this might be the game to change your mind.
Mark was able to play with a virtual baby Bengal tiger named Skittles. It was too cute for words but I bet 8 year olds will be in love the little baby tiger. They will also have plushies of the animals just to make you go into cardiac arrest from so much cuteness.
With an audience of advertisers and agencies Mark showed how some brands were already preparing for launch. Burger King was the main culprit as they showed how external content could be brought in game.
The example Mark showed was a simple toy that could be brought into the game world by pointing the right object at the camera. Once it is recognized it would become a part of the game world giving Skittles something new to play with. Another partner they mentioned was the Chevy Volt who would be participating in some way although details were not mentioned.
Recently at Nuit Blanche Toronto I saw a demo of Kinect out in the open and many onlookers who couldn’t wait for a chance to try it out. No doubt the marketing machine is rocking as we are just weeks away from Kinect’s launch.
The technology demo I enjoyed the most was Kinect (can you tell I am a gamer or what) because it takes the camera recognition technology to the next level. I see gaming as stone’s throw away from the underlying technology being put to use in your next generation PC.
With Deep Zoom you can see into the depth of objects while Pivot gives you have a visual way to sort and understand data. With Windows Mobile 7 Microsoft is making their next move in the smartphone market and with Kinect we are seeing the next generation of control methods that is a few steps above even multi touch.
Here is a demo done thanks to the Montreal Gazette for the video:
An impressive showing that shows that for all the flack that Microsoft gets they can still innovate with the best of them, get ready for Kinect November 4th.
Video Credit: The Montreal Gazette
Mark Young General Manager Microsoft Advertising
At the Ad Week Presentation on the Future of Interactive Marketing Microsoft showed Pivot. This is an experimental technology that allows data visualization, sorting, and categorization on the fly.
The example they showed us at Advertising Week in New York was taking all the covers of Sports Illustrated throughout its history and having the ability to sort them based on content, like how many football covers they have had in the last ten years or by how many Issues had Tiger Woods on the covers. That is only the beginning of how Pivot can be used.
They say that Pivot could allow agencies that have a deep catalogue of assets to sort it based on how many impressions each piece had or by any other metric that they have on the creative executions.
What Mark said was that Pivot allows you to take large sets of data and organize them in a visual way. This has not been the first time that they have demoed the Pivot technology. In a TED talk Microsoft Live Labs Director Gary Flack demoed the technology to show how you can “interact with data in a way that is powerful, informative, and fun.”
The technology allows the viewer to arrange the data to common characteristics and like Deep Zoom allows you to get in for a closer look. Pivot can work with any kind of data and the uses are as varied as the information itself.
Below is the TED Talk that explains what Pivot is and how it can be used better than I could and here is the link to the article that explains it all from Microsoft’s website.
At Advertising Week Microsoft gave a short demo of Windows Mobile 7, Microsoft gave some really interesting insights into what they wanted to do with their newest mobile OS. Windows Mobile 7 was a chance to start fresh. Mobile is growing 8 times faster than the Internet is. One reason is because your mobile device is with you all the time. Microsoft did a lot of research and found that most people only use 3-5 apps regularly.
What they were going for with the interface was to make it glanceable. By having live tiles so the user knows what is happening at a glance. The people hub shows what is new and what Microsoft really focused was on how advertisers could connect to consumers through Windows Mobile 7. They are offering a new ad unit that is 40×80 over the standard found on most mobile devices so advertisers can connect with their market more effectively.
Against Apple, Google and all the other players it will be interesting to see how consumers react to Microsoft’s newest phone. These phones will have integration with Office and the Xbox platform. Here is the ad done by CP+B for Windows Mobile 7.
Credit for video: windowsphone
I wrote this for Ad Buzz Canada and I like the possibilities of Deep Zoom.
On Wednesday September 29th during Advertising Week in New York City Microsoft presented some its latest technology to agencies, brands, and marketers. The technology they showed offers new ways for advertisers to connect with audiences by offering them unique experiences using the power of technology. (more…)
Ad guy, strategist, tech nerd, writer, gamer, travel lover, and social media addict learning the ways of the web.
I use this blog as my own personal sounding board, I don't write for perfection so the grammar will not always be perfect.
I just write for perspective on the fun and my experiences through the chaos of life.
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