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In less than 3 months the Russian city of Sochi will host the Winter Olympic Games.
To help promote the games, the Russian Olympic committee has installed a special ticket machine at the Vystavochaya subway station, west of Moscow. But unlike other machines, commuters can earn their ticket by doing 30 squats.
[via Sploid]
This fall L’Oreal Paris is going underground to the subways of New York City with The Intelligent Color Experience machine.
The installation, created in a partnership between digital agency R/GA and CBS Outdoor, features a full-length interactive mirror that uses camera sensors to analyze the style and colour of the user’s outfit.
The machine creates a digital animation of the user’s silhouette and colours that they are wearing, and offers suggestions on which L’Oreal products may complement their look. The machine can be stocked with up to 700 items with prices ranging from $6.99 to $9.99. User’s can buy the products directly from the machine using their credit card.
The Intelligent Color Experience will be set up at Bryant Park Station at 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue from November 4 to December 30.
[via Brand Channel]
Dutch coffee company Douwe Egberts recently partnered with South African agency Joe Public to deploy a special vending machine at O.R. Tambo International Airport near Johannesburg.
The vending machine used special facial recognition software to detect whether someone was yawning, and then provided them with a free cup of coffee to help them wake up.
I bet you yawned? I know I did.
[via mdelmas]
Sometimes I can’t decide whether projects like this one are brilliant or ridiculous. Maybe it’s a little from column A, a little from columnb B. What I am sure of is that everyday something wildly creative and unexpected is being produced the ad agencies in Brazil, Argentina and Colombia.
In this case, Ogilvy Argentina and Huggies spent 4 months developing a belt that replicates the baby’s movements and kicks in real-time from the mom’s belly to the dad’s belly. There’s no mention whether the belts would be used beyond the development of this ad.
The belts look a bit silly, but the dad’s in the video look genuinely touched by the experience.
[via Creative Criminals]
Big time 90s warbler and comedic actor (you’ve all seen his turn as a pirate in Lonely Island’s ‘Jack Sparrow‘ video) Michael Bolton may have sold millions of albums around the world, but according to a new ad created by Mother New York, he’s fed up with getting phone calls from people who dial his number by mistake when they are trying to reach U.S. cable company Optimum.
The ad’s premise is that the cable company and Bolton share a very similar number phone number, his being 866-200-7152 and Optimum’s is 866-200-7151. Now Bolton can’t trim his hedges (no, that’s not a metaphor), create pottery, wash the dog, or go bouncy-bounce on his trampoline without being interrupted by people looking for great deals on TV, internet and phone.
If you do call 866-200-7152 (and really, you know you want to), you’ll get Bolton’s answering machine, where you can not only hear his pitch for Optimum and choose 1 to connect to the cable company, but you can also “press 2” to hear him shred on a guitar, “press 3” to hear how he warms up his voice, “press 4” to hear him speak Spanish, or “press 5” hear a funny joke (it’s not that funny).
[via Adweek]
In a new year-long campaign launched February 5 ‘Tech Timeout‘, Life Insurance provider Foresters is challenging families (and I assume couples and individuals) to take a scheduled break from all electronic devices and spend time reconnecting with each other in more meaningful ways.
The campaign ad features people completely oblivious to other people and their surroundings, while distracted by their tech devices. The clips shows a man entering the wrong house, a girl runs into a light pole while texting, a wife pours steaming coffee into her husband’s lap, and a group of tennis players are oblivious to the game they are supposed to be playing.
The situations while outrageous, aren’t far from the truth. It’s behaviour that most of are either guilty of ourselves, or that we observe everyday.
In a press release to announce the campaign, George Mohacsi, Foresters’ President and CEO said, “Foresters purpose is to champion family well-being and we do that through quality life insurance, unique member benefits and inspiring community activities. We are always looking for innovative ways to help families spend time together and challenging them to ‘disconnect to reconnect’ is a simple way to turn our purpose into action.”
A recent Consumer Electronics Association study reported that the average US home has 24 different consumer media and communication devices, including multiple televisions, computers and smartphones and some believe the proliferation of these devices contributes to a sense of social isolation even when you’re in the same room with other people.
According to the Center for Digital Future, in 2008, 28 percent of people said that being wired has resulted in them spending less time with family members, a significant increase from the 11 percent reported in 2006.
In my opinion it’s like everything else, it’s about balance, and being aware that while technology can enable us to connect with like-minded people, friends and family on the other side of the world, it should not isolate ourselves from our relationships in the real world.
Whether you participate in Foresters’ challenge, do you think you could take a daily break from all technology devices?
Last week pictures and short clips of robots began to appear on the Brilliant Machines Tumblr.
A picture of K.I.T.T., the talking Trans-Am from Knight Rider driving down the twists and turns of Lombard Street in San Francisco was shared. Robby the Robot from Forbidden Planet was spotted leaving the Natural History Museum in Los Angeles. Apparently, while we’ve distracted by zombies, South Korean dance crazes and Black Friday sales, the machines were making their move. Or were they?
On Thanksgiving, it started to make sense with the release of the ‘Robots on the Move’ (embedded below) ad. The clip shows the robots; including K.I.T.T., Robby, B-9 (from Lost in Space) and one that kind of, sort of looks like Number 5 from Short Circuit, making their way to GE headquarters where they are joined by Star Trek: The Next Generation android, Data.
The ad was created by BBDO New York, and was directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris.
[via FastcoCreate]
Anyone who has ever played with toy cars can tell you that the way you make them go fast, is to make the engine noise yourself. Nissan and their agency TBWA/Hakuhodo have collaborated to create voice-driven versions of radio-controlled four-wheel-drive models based on Nissan’s Fairlady Z Sports Car.
The first race, the Japan GP takes place on November 10 at the Nissan Galley in Yokohama, with visitors controlling the cars with their voice in person. The events will be broadcast live via UStream on the Voice Driver Cup website.
On November 17 (but just for 24 hours), everyone around the world will be able to join in and control the cars from their own computer using their microphone.
I’ll be rehearsing my car engine noises, see you at the starting line.
[via DigitalBuzz]
With only a few days to go before Halloween, it’s comforting to finally confirm what we’ve all known for years. That ghosts have been gleefully photobombing our precious photo moments for years.
Renowned (yet completely fake) ghost expert, Leslie Enlow PhD is here to confirm this activity, thanks (of course) to AT&T the HTC One X, which allows users to easily pull stills from video.
The video was created by BBDO.
[via Adrants]
Google Glass technology was front and centre last week at the DVF Spring 2013 show at New York Fashion Week. The head-mounted devices were worn by the models, stylists and Diane von Furstenberg herself. It’s unlikely that the advanced augmented reality features of the device were ready and available to the wearers at the event.
However, the video and still capture functionality was being used, with photos being shared to the Google+ page and video compiled for DVF [through Glass] produced and edited by Greenpoint Pictures .
In June at Google IO 2012, co-founder Sergey Brin announced that the public will have to wait until 2014 for the devices, while developers can get their hands on an “Explorer Edition” sometime early next year.
Creative Guy & Director of Emerging Media + Trends at Delvinia in Toronto. Co-founder & Chief Intoxicologist at Madtini.com – opinions expressed are my own (who else would claim them anyway).
