MostContagious2012.pdf - Contagious Magazine
MostContagious2012.pdf - Contagious Magazine
MostContagious2012.pdf - Contagious Magazine
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technology /<br />
big battles,<br />
sMall victors<br />
Leap /<br />
As the tracking technology powering the Kinect passes through the initial<br />
novelty phase, companies like Leap Motion aim to make faster, more<br />
accurate 3D modeling and response technology. The Leap device sits in<br />
a compact housing about the same size of an iPod and is set to retail<br />
for $70. Leap’s creators claim it’s up to 200 times more accurate than<br />
Kinect, thus enabling it to implement detailed gesture-based commands.<br />
Co-founder and CTO David Holz is a former fluid mechanics researcher<br />
for NASA.<br />
leapmotion.com<br />
Ones to Watch /<br />
Smart Sand comes from MIT’s Distributed Robotics Laboratory and<br />
Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. Essentially,<br />
Smart Sand can self-assemble to copy objects, passing messages<br />
between grains to create structure. From there, the structure can be shuffled<br />
off to a permanent assembly protocol, like a 3D printer, leaving the<br />
smart sand to replicate the next item. <strong>Contagious</strong> 31.<br />
Google’s driverless car project became more significant this year when<br />
Nevada was the first state to allow the cars to operate on its roads. Florida<br />
and California have followed as the tech giant lobbies for legislation permitting<br />
its autonomous vehicles.<br />
In a world where the cost of connected technologies (such as RFID and<br />
NFC) is falling and smartphone penetration continues to rise, the internet<br />
of things has been on the theoretical table for a while. EVRYTHNG’s<br />
engine helps manufacturers create unique digital identities for individual<br />
objects. Drinks behemoth Diageo used EVRYTHNG to transform whiskey<br />
bottles in Brazil so that smartphone users could scan a code on a bottle<br />
to add personalised Father’s Day video messages. It has also used<br />
the platform to create applications that help track products in the supply<br />
chain and let customers ‘check in’ to products to receive loyalty rewards.<br />
Venky Balakrishnan, global vice president for marketing innovation, Diageo,<br />
said: ‘We now have a profound strategic opportunity to transform our<br />
physical products into owned digital media, which can communicate personalised<br />
information and experiences to consumers, exactly when and<br />
where they want it.’ <strong>Contagious</strong> 31.<br />
Having pioneered Steam, a software delivery service for its games,<br />
developer Valve is joining game industry heavies including Unity, id Software,<br />
Epic Games and more on the Oculus Rift, a virtual-reality headset<br />
for gaming. The diagonal field of view of the prototype is 110 degrees,<br />
compared with earlier models, which had only 40, and the headset boasts<br />
minimal processing delays. Founder Palmer Luckey was able to convince<br />
more than 9,500 Kickstarter backers to support the project, buying in to<br />
access the software development kit before the general public and raising<br />
over $2.4 million. Expected delivery date? January, 2013.<br />
bit.ly/H9Kd7x<br />
bit.ly/GYQHu1<br />
www.evrythng.com<br />
www.oculusvr.com<br />
MOVEMENTs purpose sErVicE data technology design social biz sharing amplified screens augmented retail personalise new loyalty payment sbpf<br />
22
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