How Demand for Digital Experiences Is Transforming Our Physical Spaces

And Creating 'Screens' Where There Weren't Any

Posted by Garrick Schmitt on 09.01.09 @ 08:44 AM


Garrick Schmitt

At times it seems that the entire world has become a screen.

The proliferation of devices of all shapes and sizes -- from the jumbotrons in Times Square to the micro-menus of Apple's Nano -- surround us. And, of course, the sheer multitude of these screens (GPS, iPod, mobile phone, LCD TV, Nintendo DS, etc.) has begun to change our interaction with the physical world.

But what's most interesting about this development is not the abundance of screens, per se, but about how our culture's seemingly ravenous desire for digital experiences is changing our expectations for physical spaces -- both in public and private.

In the past few years, a host of artists, programmers and marketers have melded art and science to create new, digitally driven experiences that are redefining the way we think about our urban and personal landscapes.

Some of the better-known advertising work here includes Mini's groundbreaking "Motorby" campaign, where an interactive digital billboard responds to Mini drivers passing by, and HBO's "Voyeur" campaign, which transformed a New York City street into a theater.

But the trend is more than just "digital out of home," which is a phrase that gets used a bit too broadly to describe this cultural shift. Instead, it's a complete rethinking of our public spaces as digital experiences.

Project Blinkenlights: Perhaps the most influential and pioneering work done so far has been by this German group, which transforms office buildings into digital interactive installations. Its most recent project, Stereoscope, took over Toronto City Hall and created an interactive, visual concert.

Blinkenlights Stereoscope Toronto documentation video from Tim Pritlove on Vimeo.

The experience went beyond just a light display; it was participatory as well. Attendees were invited to play video games on the sides of the building by using their mobile phones. And artists could create their own animations for the installation using Project Blinkenlights' open animation formats and tools.

555 Kubik: Similar to the work of Project Blinkenlights, the 555 Kubik project is a digital installation that turns a naked building facade into a compelling piece of art through 3-D projections.

555 Kubik extended version from UrbanScreen on Vimeo.

The project was created by UrbanScreen, a European agency that specializes in large-scale projection on urban surfaces.

YouTube Symphony Orchestra: The YouTube Symphony Orchestra was an attempt to crowdsource a virtual orchestra via auditions through YouTube. For the public performance, which featured 96 professional and amateur musicians from 30-plus countries, Obscura Digital specifically mapped Carnegie Hall's architecture to project 20,000 square feet of full-resolution video and dramatically enhance the event.

Livestrong Chalkbot: As part of Lance Armstrong's return to the Tour de France and his Livestrong organization's mission to cure cancer, Nike commissioned the Livestrong Chalkbot. Created by DeepLocal and StandardRobot, the Chalkbot enabled thousands of people to have their messages (submitted digitally) chalked along the route of this year's Tour.

'Top Chef Las Vegas': For this season of "Top Chef Las Vegas," Fallon and Monster teamed up for one of the more clever uses of mobile and digital-billboard advertising. The team created an interactive casino in Rockefeller Plaza that highlighted the Las Vegas element of the show and allowed passers-by to play interactive slot machines with their mobile phones for the chance to win $5,000 -- now that's an incentive for engagement.

While the melding of digital and physical has been done well before, it's often been in fits and starts. But it's only been as of late, as the technology has become cheaper and connectivity more pervasive, that we've started to see a more profound shift in digital altering of our public spaces. The emergence of radio-frequency identification and augmented reality and shift toward branded destinations -- see the O2 in the U.K. -- will only accelerate the trend.

Leave it to Guinness to give us an early taste. Working with London's Red Urban, Guinness placed RFID tags on its team's rugby balls and players, providing real-time data for fans and coaches alike. Running pace, kicking power and passing speed are all monitored -- allowing a digital window into a physical event that is just scratching the surface of what's possible.

If the Guinness RFID work is any indicator, perhaps the future won't be about screens at all -- it may simply become a matter of data and sensors.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Garrick Schmitt is group VP-experience planning at Razorfish and the agency's global lead for user experience. He publishes FEED, Razorfish's annual consumer experience report, and in his spare time flails about on Twitter @gschmitt.

10 Comments

By VickieJazz | Wayne, NJ September 1, 2009 11:07:33 am:

Absolutely wonderful post - I am so intrigued by the interactive engagement of experiential marketing and you've effective bridged your content together, with YouTube video, making the read quite an experience in itself. I think the future of marketing is engaging audiences, and using digital to do that will be key. Now I'm off to my social media forums to spread the word and share your article - will give props to you @gschmitt. :) thanks!

Vickie
twitter.com/vickie_smith
http://www.VickieSmith.com

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By gumption | WOODINVILLE, WA September 1, 2009 12:48:18 pm:

At a recent workshop on Digital Cities (http://gumption.typepad.com/blog/2009/06/digital-cities-6.html), a number of other examples of how digital technology is transforming urban spaces were presented. The presentations included Climate on the Wall, where words and phrases associated with climate change were projected on the wall of a building in Denmark, the Trash | Track project, where RFID is used to track articles of trash as they make their way through the system (which was just launched in Seattle), and CoCollage [full disclosure: a project I am working on], which promotes conversation and connection in coffeehouses and other community-oriented places by showing a dynamic collage of photos and quotes uploaded by customers and staff on a large display in that place.

I know there are lots of variations on visions of "Web 3.0". I believe the next big thing(s) will be opening up portals between the digital and physical worlds where the best of both worlds can shine through ... as shown in the examples listed in this article (and the Digital Cities 6 workshop).

Joe McCarthy
http://cocollage.com
http://gumption.typepad.com
http://twitter.com/gumption

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By RichieC | New York, NY September 1, 2009 03:14:11 pm:

The topic of aligning the disciplines of experiential and digital marketing is something that has been a hot topic as of late. A quick anecdote: several months ago, I attended a launch event for T-Mobile's LX mobile phone at Hudson Terrace, an oft-used event space on Manhattan's West Side. Aside from a sign on the wall with a Twitter hashtag, the event featured a room where several laptops were set up with Skype connections & headsets- allowing attendees to interact with partygoers in Houston, LA, and other markets where the same event was occurring live.

Certainly, that wasn't the most advanced implementation, but it WAS effective and engaging- and that's precisely what digital provides to events/sampling/integrated marketing... effective enhancement. Equipped with the understanding that a consumer's brand experience shouldn't be finite and static, it will be interesting to see down what path the increasing convergence of digital & experiential agencies will lead the rest of the industry.

Richie Cruz
Digital Strategist | AgencyNet
Blog: ANidea.com
Web: agencynet.com

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By ALBERT | New York, NY September 1, 2009 03:25:35 pm:

Digital signage is another merchandising and communication channel, just like the internet. The only difference is that the customer is IN your store with her wallet in her hand.

In-stores, digital signage helps vendors improve brand awareness, sales lead generation, and sales enablement (training, compliance, corporate affairs).

Functionally, retail digital signage delivers targeted video messages to specific digital signs, in specific branches, at specific times-of-day.

Industry leaders,like my organization, are also providing unprecidenting levels of reporting and interactive capability. For example:

• Gaze monitoring statistics – how many people saw a certain message?
• Audience measurement – what were the age and gender of persons who saw a message?
• Dynamic merchandising – if demographic target is viewing a message, provides the ability to adjust the next message to the target
• Interactivity – providing take-away material, educational material, and way finding with Bluetooth, MMS, and Wi-Fi.

Tony Wenzel
Vice President Sales
Stratacache

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By DanielPerry | Orlando, FL September 1, 2009 08:43:51 pm:

We can certainly expect that digital lines will cause some government services to splinter into more localized quick-action branches similar to police department sub-stations. Perhaps large, expensive and centrally located courthouses are soon to be on the chopping block - replaced by videoconferenced or outsourced (satellite) judges/lawyers.

Daniel Perry, Attorney, Orlando, FL
Twitter: DanielPerry

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By motionstream | New York, NY September 2, 2009 07:58:13 am:

Nice post. While there are many innovative examples of digital signage that we can point to, it's too early in the timeline of this medium to know exactly how it will evolve in the future. Digital Out-of-Home remains one of the few growth mediums for the advertising industry in this down economy. The average person will see more than 64 hours of out-of-home content per year. In 1960 only 8% of the population was reported to spend significant time outside the home. Fast-forward to 2008— that average has reached more than 45%. These numbers illustrate that consumers continue to spend more time outside the home as our culture becomes increasingly more mobile. if you have an interest in learning more our portal, Digital Signage Universe, covers the digital out-of-home space.

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By rjw2116 | New York, NY September 2, 2009 10:28:25 am:

I enjoyed this post, especially the examples chosen in the form of videos. Is this guerilla advertising 2.0 or a whole new wave of experience marketing. I applaud the effort of these companies to make these efforts interactive because it allows for a much more rewarding experience.
If you liked this kind of stuff you might want to check out my blog www.ad-vantage-us.blogspot.com Check it out.

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By marycray | SAN FRANCISCO, CA September 2, 2009 11:03:27 pm:

Thank you for surfacing the fact that expectations are escalating, demanding more from the most creative minds. This is a great indication of the increasing freedom we are being given to express ourselves, our brands and our products/services.

@marycray

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By paulong | Brighton, MI September 8, 2009 09:03:42 am:

It's about time someone wrote about this. Like so many emerging "communication tools" some are cool, some just are and only a few are truly effective for the viewer and the client. So far, to me, the perfect example is the HD wall in the new Comcast tower in Philadelphia:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSRcDrCse7c&feature=related

(skip the first :44 seconds)

Paul Long - Ann Arbor, MI

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By Jeff Schneider | Mentor, OH September 14, 2009 01:34:11 am:

Hello Garrick,

We are fast approaching the golden age of Interactive Multi Media Communication. There will be things coming down the pike that will razzle and dazzle and will be looked at as Paradigm shifts, in user channel presentations. We are all creators and as such we have barely scratched the surface of things to come.

Software can create Mythical monsters and the palate used to create them will be constantly morphing. Thanks for this creative vision into the future.

Gratefully, Jeff Schneider

http://usebiz.com/

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