Digital Juicy bits: 2010

Real Time Twitter Use

Awhile back I had the crazy notion of using twitter on a digital billboard in a mall/street etc to get one of our brands to interact with a normally passive passing by public.

It seems that the Canadian Tourism Board have gone and built a twitter wall in NYC for exactly that reason. It's a live feed from twitter updated with experiences people are having in Canada displayed on a huge touch screen that users can interact with. Looks really cool... lets just hope they're moderating the posts before they go up.

Twitter Mood Map

Great piece of technology from the BUPA site.

It's a map to reflect the regional mood of the country (UK) updating in real time using twitter posts.

Great exposure for BUPA and it gets better... you can even generate code to embed the map on your own site. Should be interesting to see what happens the next time the Volcanic Ash Cloud attacks the UK and grounds all air traffic!

Get your own one here

New 3D flickr viewer

As a major user of flickr (as well as having it tied into my photography blog) I'm always on the lookout for different ways of displaying flickr photos. I usually use flickr River which does exactly what i need and does it quickly.

I've just come across a 3D Papervision viewer http://taggalaxy.de which uses Papervision to display flickr photos by tag in a 3D globe and extra tags as graphics, it looks really impressive.

Papervision has transformed the use of 3D in flash over the last couple of years and it is something we're seeing more and more often in the use of sites.

Facebook in Pirate english?

Under the language settings of Facebook I've found a few strange oddities, apart from the usual different languages, you can change your pages to display Pirate English.

Pokes are now Stabs

Friends are now Mateys

News feed is now Fresh Booty

and many more...

To change it, go to the bottom of your Facebook homepage click on where it says "Facebook 2010 English (uk)" or whatever language you're using, and change it to English (Pirate)

So simple but yet it's just made my Friday afternoon

Ray Ban's Magic Glasses

Ray Ban's have been coming out with some great digital campaigns, but after seeing this about a year ago it's probably my favourite. Basically using your webcam you can try on different styles of Ray-Ban sunglasses to see what they look like. Yes I did go for the largest pair I could find for the photo.

This is updated with new styles as they come in meaning that what could have been a campaign for a seasonal range has a much longer life span.

However there are two problems with the app:

1) Ray Ban's are a cool brand (not trying to be controversial here) but it doesn't work on a MAC so already most cool people won't be able to use it.

2) Once you've chosen what you like, you can only buy from the USA... Doh!

Give it a go here

http://www.ray-ban.com/usa/science/virtual-mirror

Innocent is Rabbiting On

FMCG's are notoriously bad at understanding the Digital world is now more about conversation with your consumers instead of force feeding. A great example (again from one of our competitors) of engaging in a conversation with their consumers is Innocent Drinks www.rabbiting-on.com. It's a simple site, in fact a simple idea, but it allows consumers to engage with the brand in a fun way and even without the latest and greatest technology it completely fits the brand.

*Image from Steven Bennett-Day's Blog

Oasis AR - Rubber Duckzilla

Not wanting to blow the horn of a competitor, but this Augmented Reality game for the brand Oasis is a perfect match of using the latest technology to have stupidly good fun whilst re-enforcing the brand's campaign online in a really engaging way.

Have a look at www.rubberduckzilla.com to play the game.

Warning: Probably not a good idea to do this in the office judging by the looks i'm getting right now.