Face recognition, new frontier for Digital Advertising
Advertising is suddenly a lot smarter. So smart in fact, that when you walk past a billboard ad, you’re no longer watching it - it’s watching you, all thanks to face recognition. Once the stuff of science fiction and anti-crime fighting, face recognition technology is slowly creeping into digital signage to tailor digital displays to whoever stops and looks at them. If you’re a male in your 50s, up jumps an ad for a hardware store. Female in your 20s? Hammers and nails are quickly replaced with makeup and fashion. In our age of revenue-raising and retaining customer loyalty, facial recognition is turning the advertising rules upside down by allowing retailers to engage and interact with consumers in a more personal and compelling manner. How does it work? Facial recognition technology is a computer-based system that detects and identifies human features. Using carefully-hidden surveillance cameras, the system measures and computes the nodal points on your face - including the width of you...
Google Plus Instigate Social Gaming Battle with Facebook
We had high hopes for Google Plus. The ease of group building and filtering, impressive chat functionality and a clean interface were major draw cards that separated the new social network from Facebook. Google Plus represented a clean state, a fresh start of sorts, where any semblance of our debauched digital identity could be wiped away in favour of a cleaner, brighter Google-enabled future. However, as Google Plus Games go live to the masses, we question whether the integration of free, web-based games into the social network is a means of improving on their vision, or simply hitting Facebook where it hurts. One of Facebook’s biggest drawcards is the online arcade factor, drawing over 200 million addicted users. So, what’s Google Plus’ solution to dr...
TV Tweeters open a new Can of Worms
Australia, we need to talk! Or so says the catch phrase of Channel Ten's latest and greatest attempt at investigative journalism: Can of Worms. Hosted by the sharp-tongued Ian "Dicko" Dickson (of Australian Idol fame), the program with a lot of 'balls, brain and heart' tackles such visceral topics as "should young women stop dressing so slutty?" Whether you agree with the programming or not, there is a lot to like about Can of Worm's strategy, which seamlessly integrates an interactive component with new media to revert audiences back to real-time viewing. If you've never encountered Can of Worms, it goes a little something like this: Dicko poses a question to the three panelists (made up of Australian 'celebriti...
Head In The Cloud: Our thoughts on cloud computing
Fifteen years ago, computer users carried their documents around on floppy discs. My, how times have changed. Today, individuals and businesses alike have found their storage solutions in The Cloud - a web-based application which functions as a virtual server, allowing for anywhere-anytime storage of personal and professional files. The concept, quite simply, is that you outsource your needs to remote machines and simply log into your files from The Cloud with your personal device, be it mobile phone or laptop. Cloud Computing is nothing new. In fact, chanc...
