Download PDF - BT iNet

an independent report from lyonsdown, distributed with the daily telegraph
November 2011
Business Technology
Audio visual communications
11
A feast for the senses
Being wowed by attention-grabbing
video and surround sound isn’t
enough for today’s consumers who are
being immersed in 3D and augmented
reality in their personal lives
By Tracey Caldwell
When there is a complex concept to get across,
or you’re marketing an experience rather
than a straightforward product, it helps to
add a further dimension to audio-visual
communications.
Consumers are coming to expect it, too.
Spoilt by immersive gaming, 3D cinema and
advanced touch-enabled applications on their
iPads and smartphones, customers now crave
a more touchy-feely experience when they
engage with companies and their marketing
campaigns.
Although virtual reality hasn’t quite caught
on in the way that might have been expected
15 years ago, there are signs that businesses
are becoming more innovative and open to
three – and four –dimensional marketing.
Effective applications include those where
the consumers’ view of the real world is
augmented by a technological dimension,
giving them more information by video and
allowing them more direct interaction.
In two Inamo restaurants in London, diners
are able to watch their meals being made in
the kitchens via webcam, having placed their
order using tabletop touchscreens. They can
then play tabletop games on their E-Table
while waiting for their order.
One of the two restaurants has private
dining areas and the technology enables
branding for private or corporate events, a
distinctive way of providing a platform for
businesses to use some of their own audiovisual
assets.
The E-Table ordering system incorporates
a waterproof Bluetooth touch panel, a special
tabletop, and a Canon XEED projector and
computer, housed in a pod in the ceiling above.
The challenge has been to balance
Taste of innovation: customers can order their food via interactive E-Tables at Inamo, London
the potential of the technology with
the requirement to provide a restaurant
experience. “There is a huge amount we could
do but we have chosen not to overpower the
guests with the amount of digital information
coming at them as we wanted the overall
experience of a restaurant as opposed to an
advertising platform, a games forum or an
internet platform,” says Mark Boyle, sales
director at Compurants, parent company of
Inamo.
Diamond jewellery retailer Forevermark,
part of the De Beers group, was looking for
a way to engage customers more effectively.
It acknowledged that the retail environment
for diamond jewellery could be intimidating
because of the necessary security around
the high-value items and it wanted a way to
let customers try on diamond jewellery in a
relaxed and fun way.
In October it began trialling a system from
Holition to enable customers to try on the
jewellery using a webcam. The customer uses
paper versions of the jewellery, which may be
supplied with catalogues or magazines. When
the customer holds up a necklace, for example,
while looking at his or her video image
appearing on screen via webcam, the system
reads the paper tab and inserts moving images
of the jewellery wherever the tab is held. The
customer can move his or her head this way
and that and the jewellery will move and
glisten in a realistic way, as if the customer
were trying it on in a shop.
“In the diamond jewellery
sector we think this is a
really innovative and
new initiative,” says
Stephen Lussier, CEO at
Forevermark. “It gave
us an opportunity
to leap beyond what
you see in a printed
catalogue and create a
relaxed environment,
where customers could
still experience trying
things on.”
Swiss watch manufacturer Tissot has
brought the Holition technology even closer
to the point of sale, encouraging potential
customers to try on watches virtually while
standing outside the store looking in at
webcams. The technology, pioneered in
the UK and implemented at Selfridges and
Harrods, has had a direct impact.
“When the application has been integrated
with activity at the point of sale it has
shown a clear, direct link to sale,”
says François Thiébaud,
Tissot’s president. “The
integration in our media
campaign resulted in an
increased flow of traffic
to our website where
consumers could ‘try on’
the watch seen in the
press adverts.”
Virtual reality: try on
a Tissot watch via a
webcam
Beam me up, Scotty
Hologram technology is taking remote presence into a new dimension
Imagine being able to teleport
leading businesspeople to appear
on stage at overseas conferences.
Orange Business projected
top executive Marie-Noëlle
Jégo-Laveissière from Paris to a
partner event in Amsterdam this
summer, with the help of hologram
specialist Musion. Jégo-Laveissière
appeared on stage next to live
employees to showcase a form of 3D
videoconferencing.
She is in good company – others
who have appeared as 3D holograms
include Prince Charles, King
Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, Al Gore, Sir
Richard Branson, David Beckham,
Madonna and the Black Eyed Peas.
Orange also showcased the Musion
technology at Hellodemain in Paris.
Visitors had their image captured
live and projected life-size on stage,
apparently being teleported into the
jungle. The 3D image was broadcast
over a high-speed fibre optic
network.
The holograms are not in fact 3D
but give the impression of being
so. An image appears apparently in
mid-air, projected on to a clear film.
Scenery in front of and behind this
image adds to the appearance of
three dimensions.
While the technology of
transmitting holograms from
one place to another still has its
challenges, using 3D audio-visual
at events is very achievable and
can have a high impact. Winton
Capital Management, sponsor of
Opera Holland Park, the annual
opera festival in west London,
worked with London creative agency
Knifedge to give the event a wow
factor. It released a seven-metre
helium illuminated balloon, on to
which 3D images were projected.
The next generation of hologram
technology would be real 3D
rendering but it is unlikely we will
see such products before 2020. Dr
Stéphane Pateux, head of voice and
video coding research at Orange,
says researchers are working on new
technologies to decrease the bit rate
bandwidth of the network needed
to carry high definition signals. “We
are looking at technology to improve
the quality of media up to super high
resolution and also 3D technology,”
he says.
Meanwhile, the distance
learning and education sectors
are among those showing earlyadopter
interest in this form of 3D
videoconferencing, as well as the
music industry, which makes much
of its profits from live performances.
“People perceive this as a business
tool and that is certainly where
it is at the moment, whereas we
see it appearing at concert halls
and upscale nightclubs and public
venues,” says Ian O’Connell, a
director at Musion.