Missing the vintage Volkswagen van?
Well, good news. The Volkswagen microbus is now officially back and should be an excellent option to the van. What’s even more astounding would be the fact that VW is launching it as an electric model!
Check out more of the microbus here:
My student asked what is the difference between knowledge and wisdom?
My answer was:
Where knowledge is the accumulation of information, experiences and deciphered data, wisdom is the ability to understand when to use and how to abandon the acquired knowledge.
Did you see or did you choose not to see that knowledge is important only because it equips u an option to solve but can be detrimental at times for it cripples your brain based on past acquired information?
While working on a previous brief for a client of mine, the idea of VR struck us in the midst of our brainstorming session. Some cringe while others embrace it passionately. Consumer VR experience in today’s context revolves greatly in a ‘controlled’ interactive environment. Why is that so? It becomes extremely challenging to bridge that level of experience into consumer retail, exhibition or even online. Brands are riding on the technology wave but are always skeptical about its outcome and especially for those who are cautious of the perceptions from their target audience. So, we have always had a conservative approach to emerging technologies. Have a look at Parrot’s new Drone plane. The drone offers real time flight experience by allowing the user to navigate the flight from a first person view. The “Disco” drone is no mediocre technology. It ramps up to 80km/hr and its glide trajectory is almost impeccable. Running at 45mins per flight, it allows consumers now to own a piece of technology that brings drone flights to a whole new experience. VR is no longer just a novelty experience used to boost brand’s ego but a usable technology that consumers can indulge in.
Image source: Digitaltrends
By now, you should be so used to having a separate app on your mobile phone that is used solely for your conversations held in Facebook. The Facebook messaging app is certainly a very developed platform that was clearly planned ahead of its launch. I remember how it used to annoyed me when I had to download a separate app just for Facebook messaging. But the flip side of having an additional app also meant that we now can have more features within the app making it more robust in features. Not only are you now able to continue text messaging, you can also have the video loading in tandem. It also gives you customizable features like muting the video while you type. Facebook continues to embed more into our daily lives and making many subtle adjustments to accommodate our user experience. Is your brand thinking along the same direction?
Love running? I bet you will love having a partner that will not only run with you, but also become a partner to pace you and in this case, out run you! Don’t just beat the clock, beat this robot. The PUMA BeatBot is programmed to run focusing on a lane while it act as a push for all runners aiming to beat their own time. Well, since humans get tired and you don’t always have the luxury to find a sprinting partner, this robot might just be the solution for you! I love this idea simply because it not only taps on technology to better our lives, its actually one step towards health technology. Check out the video as Usain Bolt trains together with it and gives his thoughts on the experience. Nice work by MIT & JWT.
A video that will not take you too long to figure out the importance of having the right support for you as well as your children’s dreams. This is probably not the first time we have seen such a script, but stories like this tend to warm the heart and deliver the message effectively. It resonates with many and gives you that tint of light, enough to drive you forward and accomplish that one wish you had. Simple, inspiring and lovely.
Innovations are happening every SINGLE day. This one interesting creation is no exception. It marks the inauguration of the glass speaker technology. Huh, glass? Yes, Turtle Beach has officially made a technological breakthrough by using glass as a form of speaker to project sound. Using what they term as HyperSound Glass, they are able to project what they label as ‘beams of ultrasound’. I thought this was really cool. Check out the video and see how kickass these tech are. I mean the volume isn’t controlled in the video but it fluctuates according to the direction where it projects to. Still in its infant stage, this prototype is already a very impressive concept. These look like they can sit on my small snazzy TV console and still make a statement. That’s a want.
So they did it. A restaurant that embraces the concept of delivering an exceptional dinning experience based upon the ‘back to nature’ approach of doing things. I can almost imagine myself dinning in the dark. It’s definitely not an extreme idea nor one that seemed over the top. But to dine in the nude is not something anyone can be comfortable with. Bunyadi, a 42-seater restaurant in London is offering its patrons that naked food experience. With such provocative dinning approach, it might seem apparent that only a handful of daring individuals would strip to their birthday suits immediately. Well, what do you know? That is so wrong. At the moment there are actually 46,000 people on its waiting list!! This is definitely an idea that requires some serious nerve and commitment to work. Come to think about it, would you have second thoughts if you are dinning with people who don’t necessarily look good in their birthday suits?
Car pooling is no longer a strange concept for many of us. Especially for those of us who wants to commute in the most economical and efficient manner, car pools are kind of the way to go. Now, how do we make it even easier? Here’s the good thing, New Yorkers now enjoy this service through Uber! They are implementing a flat rate of $5 for all car pools within Manhattan below the 110 Street area, but limited to peak hours between 7 to 10AM as well as 5-8PM on weekdays! However, this comes with a small price to pay. That is, you might need to walk a bit to a specific location in order to allow the pick up points to be well aligned for better travel efficiency. So the idea here is to make it more optimal to pick you up as well as drop you such that the travel route is well, ‘strategised’ for timely pick ups and well worth fare charges.
The interesting thing to note is that car pool has been very lucrative for Uber and based on their current fast growing ridership and the staggering amount of New Yorkers who are using UberPool are growing exponentially. Car pool might just be the way to go for Uber albeit their claims for a ‘complimentary public transportation’ provider.
Let’s see what happens next. I am keeping my fingers crossed that this will pick up fast and hopefully be adopted in Asia countries like Singapore! Nonetheless, Im still an avid supporter for Uber and will continue to use their services.
Another interesting way we can improve brand experience through packaging design. Prior to this execution, Pizza Hut had a movie box concept which also taps on mobile technology. This had a really fun theme to it. The use of the 50s music themed together with the individual donut flavour makes it a rather interesting combination. Somehow the formula for a successful engagement is to combine different experiences into one and to create a fresh perspective to the brand. I think its a brilliant move by Krispy Kreme. Check out this video.
Zack Chia 