Another pragmatic example of Augmented Reality in your everyday life: Wikitude AR Travel Guide for mobile phones

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EA8xlicmT8]

YouTube - Wikitude AR Travel Guide

(runs on Android, Google's cell phone software) "This video demonstrates the augmented reality camera view of Wikitude AR on a G1 phone from a beautiful viewpoint looking down on Salzburg.

Wikitude is a mobile travel guide based on Wikipedia and Panoramio. Search landmarks in your surroundings and view them on a map, list, and on an Augmented Reality (AR) camera view: What you see is an annotated landscape, mountain names, landmark descriptions, and interesting stories." WEITERLESEN...

Ray-Ban offers Augmented Reality service to sell glasses online

[caption id="attachment_510" align="alignnone" width="454" caption="Ray-Ban Virtual Mirror"][/caption]

Augmented Reality steps into our living-room with this new web service from Ray-Ban: All you need is a web cam and their software (PC only). Then you pick some glasses from the online catalogue and see yourself in a virtual mirror. Works especially great with sunglasses, since you see yourself just like others do for the first time. This I call a successful implementation of innovative technology for business purposes.

via Ray-Ban Official Website (click on "Virtual Mirror" on the banner in the middle)
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Allensbach: Internet wichtiger als Zeitungen für Akademiker unter 40

UPDATE: Gartner identifiziert "Social Software und Social Networking" als einen der Top 10 strategisch wichtigsten Trends der nächsten drei Jahre (siehe unten)
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via Spiegel Online Netzwelt:

"Das Internet gewinnt als Nachrichtenmedium an Bedeutung, Fernsehen und die gedruckte Presse verlieren. Für Akademiker unter 40 ist es sogar erstmals wichtiger als die Zeitung."

Nutzung von Internet und Zeitung nach Alter [Bild: Spiegel Online]

Imagewandel: Netz gewinnt als Nachrichtenmedium

"Mit der Verschiebung der Mediennutzung verändert sich auch das Image der Medien. Dies zeigt sich besonders in der Gruppe der 20- bis 39-Jährigen mit Hochschul- oder Fachhochschulabschluss: Gefragt nach ihren wichtigsten Informationsquellen über das aktuelle Geschehen, hat das Netz die Zeitung in diesem Jahr überholt. Für 51 Prozent gehört das Netz zu den wichtigsten Quellen und nur noch für 46 Prozent die Zeitung."

Imagewandel der Medien [Bild: Spiegel Online]

Vollständiger Artikel >>

Passend dazu haben die Analysten der Gartner Inc. heute auf dem Gartner Symposium/ITExpo als eine der 10 strategisch wichtigsten Technologien der nächsten drei Jahre auch "Social Software und Social Networking" identifiziert. Dazu gehören Social Networks wie Facebook, StudiVZ, mySpace, sixgroups, Social Media Plattformen wie Twitter/Friendfeed (Microblogging), Flickr (Fotos), YouTube/myVideo (Videos) sowie auch virtuelle Welten und Chatrooms wie Second Life, vMTV, Google Lively, Twinity und Gaia, denn letztere sind nichts anderes als soziale Plattformen, die engagierte Kommunikation und teilweise auch Zusammenarbeit über das Internet erleichtern.

"Social software includes a broad range of technologies, such as social networking, social collaboration, social media and social validation. Organizations should consider adding a social dimension to a conventional Web site or application and should adopt a social platform sooner, rather than later, because the greatest risk lies in failure to engage and thereby, being left mute in a dialogue where your voice must be heard."

Wer jetzt jedoch nur an Markenpräsenz oder Syndizierung von Content durch Verbreitung in den sozialen Netzwerken denkt, übersieht den entscheidenden Punkt, um den hier geht: die heutige Generation der 20-39-Jährigen will nicht einfach nur Informationen konsumieren, sie will involviert werden, mitmachen, bewerten, weiterempfehlen und sich vor allem anderen mit anderen (über Ihr Produkt) austauschen. Wer seinen Käufern, Lesern oder Kunden also - laut Gartner - innerhalb der nächsten drei Jahre keine Gelegenheit dazu gibt, wird diese langfristig gesehen an die Konkurrenz verlieren.

Aus: Gartner Identifies the Top 10 Strategic Technologies for 2009 >>

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Arts & politics, anyone? Not only teens in Google's Lively

There's not only rampaging teenagers and dirty sex in Lively, Google's virtual world of cartoon-like chat rooms. Or would you have thought that you'd find an art gallery with the title "Captured fractions of human history" here?



This room belongs to Yaniv, a 36 year-old Jew from Israel who decorated walls and floor of his room with animated slideshows covering politics, art and history. The pictures in the backround are constantly updating themselves. We talked about religion and problems between fundamentalist Arabs and Jews and I learned that I would have been treated differently if I hadn't told him I was married. Since you can pretend to be anything in a virtual world, carrying any name you choose, it is a good example of how important it is to take "virtuality" seriously - social conventions are in the backpack of anybody logging into virtual worlds.

Because once you feel immersed you act like you would in the "real world" - even if you're just displayed like a cartoon-like Avatar.

If you use Windows you can have a look at the Exambitions Gallery right now (yeah I know that's lame - Google doesn't love Mac users):
www.lively.com/dr?rid=7746274979763050908

P.S. naturally I'll never know if Yaniv isn't in fact a teenager anyway(although I'm pretty sure because of our conversation)...nevertheless he created something interesting with that simple platform. Oh by the way here's my "virtual meeting & presentation room" in Lively, just in case. Here's a picture of it (for Mac users - blame Google, not me):



Consiliera's virtual meeting room in Lively WEITERLESEN...

More customers are demanding interactions through digital channels

93% of Americans believe a company should have a presence in social media, while 85% believe a company should not only be present, but should also interact with its consumers via social media.

via The Future of Artificial Intelligence: AI 105 Revolutions in interactions is growing fast WEITERLESEN...

Social Research Foundation Survey Shows Increase in Professional Use for Second Life

There's an increase in interest for professional use. That includes networking, researching, and running a Second Life business as well as conducting real-life business.

via Virtual Worlds News: Social Research Foundation Survey Shows Increase in Professional Use for Second Life >>

Full study on Metanomics.net by Robert Bloomfield: Professionals see their future in Second Life WEITERLESEN...

Hangout.net - another room-based 3D virtual world

This is another room-based virtual world (working on both Mac and Windows!) , comparable with 3BRooms, Vivaty and JustLeapIn, seemingly addressing the teen crowd (their motto is "get a room"...) like Google's Lively does. Facebook App included. The music in the video on their homepage is a little annoying after a few seconds but it looks like they have better web and media integration than Lively (which is not hard, I admit). It is still in closed beta and I hope I can get an invite soon to be able to test it. It's been a Techcrunch50 winner and the official Metaverse evangelists of IBM Hursley have been playing around with it, too, so it could be a promising approach.

WEITERLESEN...