Wikitude on wheels: Toward vehicular augmented reality
I recently picked up the T-mobile G1 running the Android OS and for the past few weeks have been comparing it side-by-side with a jail-broken iPhone still on AT&T. There are a lot of great applications for Android that have been created so far — such as Ecorio (profiled in this blog), Google Voice (I now have all phones, landline and mobile, synced to one number), and Wikitude, which I have to admit was the real driver behind this purchase.
Wikitude is a stunning application. Created by Mobilizy, an Austrian firm that specializes in location-based application for the Android platform, Wikitude was one of the top finalists in last year’s Android Developers Challenge. The application uses GPS to display points of interest — tapping into Wikipedia — for your location and this can be displayed in list, map or, most interestingly, in camera view.
On a recent weekend road trip to Baltimore it occurred to me that this sort of application will eventually supersede current in-car navigation systems for two reasons: 1) you can take it with you, and 2) it’s developer friendly. Let me explain.
Continue reading: Wikitude on wheels: Toward vehicular augmented reality »
Posted in Mobile on June 4, 2009
Tags: android, augmented reality, automotive apps, carticipate, ecorio, gps, iphone, portable navigation device, smartphone
How automotive marketers can leverage digital video technologies
Automotive marketing sits at a crossroads. As if macroeconomic conditions weren’t enough of a challenge, key media channels like TV are being subjected to radical transformation, including viewer fragmentation, ad avoidance behavior and fundamental shifts in the business models of all sides of the ecosystem. Auto marketers have historically been quick to embrace new advertising opportunities and, true to form, many have begun experimenting with our topic today: dynamic and personalized video.
First, a bit of context. The media universe was already on a path toward fragmentation well before the interweb came on the scene. Cable brought niche-i-fication to television. Magazines grew to cover a tremendous array of interests. Digital technologies have only accelerated and intensified this trend, providing an even lower-cost way to create and share content globally. The barriers to creation of great content –- including video -– have mostly been torn down.
And then there’s the distribution side of the equation. What was amazing about TV as a marketing channel was the massive reach, power of shared experiences, and the raw emotive potential of sight, sound and motion. The medium was the primary, if not the only, way to get video content viewed by a significant audience. Everyone tuned in and watched the program –- a linear experience that looked pretty much the same whether you were in a Manhattan high-rise or on a Colorado ranch.
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Posted in Marketing on May 27, 2009
Tags: Advertising, Dealers
Can high tech save Chrysler?
At January’s Detroit Auto Show, Chrysler offered a forecast around the automaker’s uconnect telematics system. The prototype: a touch-screen display that gives intuitive access to a fully connected hub, seamlessly merging a driver’s life inside and outside the car.
We’re not there yet, but we’re getting closer: At the New York Auto Show, Chrysler unveiled upgrades to uconnect that will make the 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee a very wired ride. Now, you’re probably thinking: Will there even be a Jeep Grand Cherokee in 2011, much less a series of uconnect upgrades? Nothing is certain, but this technology deserves to survive bankruptcy. Chrysler is taking in-car connectivity the furthest it’s been yet.
The 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited, depicted here, will feature the in-dash uconnect Guardian roadside assistance package.
Continue reading: Can high tech save Chrysler? »
Posted in Telematics on May 11, 2009
Tags: 2011 jeep grand cherokee, bluetooth, chrysler, gps, Telematics, uconnect
Ford bets on social media for its next American compact
Next year, the Ford Fiesta makes its U.S. debut. The superefficient, sporty compact has proved enough of a success in Europe and Asia to draw the attention of American drivers, and their newfound thirst for all things small. It’s become an object of transatlantic envy — much of it expressed in online forums — since its launch late last year. In past years, such yearnings were likely to go unrequited. But Ford Motor’s “One Ford” strategy, which is pushing toward a single global lineup, means this small car will be navigating American roads in 2010.
A Green Apple Fiesta hatchback on display outside the Javits Center at the 2009 New York International Auto Show.
Technically, it’s already here. On the stand at the New York Auto Show, Ford previewed a vibrant green Fiesta, with “1/100” emblazoned on the hood and “fiestamovement.com” printed on the side. Over the next six months, 100 Americans get to drive the Fiesta. For free. With free insurance, free gas and free parking. In exchange, they will document their experience online — blogging it, tweeting it, posting to Facebook, YouTube and Flickr — and undertake monthly “missions” set by Ford. (Full disclosure.: Although Ford is a Razorfish client, the agency has no involvement with the Fiesta Movement campaign.)
Continue reading: Ford bets on social media for its next American compact »
Posted in Social media on April 30, 2009
Tags: fiesta movement, ford
Ford envisions wheels for the wired family
At the 2009 New York International Auto Show, Ford Motor Company (one of Razorfish’s clients) unveiled the Transit Connect Family One Concept. As with much of Ford’s conceptual thinking lately, connectivity assumes as much importance as cargo space or gas mileage.
The production version of Transit Connect is a super-efficient, maneuverable van for small businesses. Family One applies its efficiency and adaptability to your standard American family — loosely defined these days as a couple of parents, two or three kids, a few mp3 players, a laptop or two, a PC, a Blu-Ray player, multiple thumb drives and several other technologies that define their lives. Family One tries to make room for all. Here’s a look.
The next wave in family cars? No wood paneling on the side, no minivan girth, no toddler staring down at you from SUV altitude. But we detect ample room for “honor student” bumper stickers out back.
Continue reading: Ford envisions wheels for the wired family »
Posted in Telematics on April 25, 2009
Tags: "2009 NYIAS", "Ford Transit Connect Family One Concept", RFID
Challenges involved in designing multi-modal voice- and touch-interactive user experiences in the car
Guest contributor Karen Kaushansky organized the “My Car is Talking But What’s it Saying?’ panel at this year’s SXSW Interactive. Karen is a User Experience Designer at Tellme, a Microsoft subsidiary that specializes in telephone-based applications. In January the company announced its first automotive engagement; Tellme is providing voice technology for Ford Motor Company’s new Sync Traffic, Directions and Information service.
Designing interactions for the car is different than designing for anywhere else. Sure, designing instrumentation and car bodies exist and continue to evolve but within the last decade there’s been an emerging focus on vehicle telematics, defined in part on Wikipedia as “the convergence of telecommunications and information processing,” which refers to things like built-in GPS navigation and Personal Navigation Devices, integrated hands-free cell phones and automatic driving-assistance systems.
SmartGauge with EcoGuide is a new instrument cluster that provides provides real-time information to help hybrid drivers achieve maximum fuel efficiency. Mike Jones, a “My Car is Talking, But What’s it Saying?” panelist, was the lead interaction designer on the Smart Design team for the recently launched instrument cluster, which will be available in 2010 Ford and Mercury hybrid sedans.
Continue reading: Challenges involved in designing multi-modal voice- and touch-interactive user experiences in the car »
Posted in Telematics on April 16, 2009
Tags: ford sync, human machine interface, smartgauge, sxsw interactive, user experience, vehicle telematics
Automotive and the third dimension of marketing: Social influence
We see a lot of auto companies jumping on the social media bandwagon and diving into Facebook Fan Pages, Twitter accounts, YouTube Channels and corporate and employee blogs –- but are they really thinking strategically about how social can impact their business? We encourage our clients to see social as a third dimension of marketing through which they can deliver on their business goals. Just as brand marketing and direct response marketing have specific objectives and measurement criteria across a brand’s marketing efforts, Social Influence Marketing™ should become a complementary strategy.
The traditional marketing funnel has been transformed. Attract, Convert, Service and Extend no longer look the same.
You can start by envisioning your marketing funnel and the different levers you employ to reach targets, prospects and owners as they move through the consideration, evaluation and purchase decision tree. Think about which decision-making behaviors can be influenced through Social strategies. Are you trying to build awareness? Convert someone who is evaluating your brand against a competitor? Retain owners post-purchase? All of these situations could employ Social Influence Marketing to achieve the desired outcome. Social influence is more than just tactical execution and we challenge our clients to think about the big picture before brainstorming their next viral campaign or Facebook application.
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Posted in Social influence marketing on April 6, 2009
Tags: enthusiasts, Marketing, social influence, social media expert
Auto promotion: Using Twitter in the automotive industry
In recent months, the automotive industry has quickly established a sizable presence on Twitter, the Web’s most popular micro-blogging service. A high-level review of its presence, however, reveals that – like many industries – it’s making the leap to the still newish communication venue with varying degrees of success. While some participants have taken to the medium swimmingly, it’s surprising how many treat Twitter almost solely as an opportunity for naked self-promotion, seldom or never engaging directly with their customers, providing customer support or other useful information.
What’s been done well versus poorly then? Let’s take a look. The following guidelines address some salient areas, where those who haven’t quite figured the medium out could use some improvement.
Engage with your audience
Twitter offers such profound reach for very low overhead, it’s a shame to see some companies using it with so little actual engagement. As you’d hope, Ford Customer Service does a great job of engaging with customers on Twitter. A recent review of FordCustService activity on Twitter indicates that the marketing specialist managing the account is responding directly to customer inquiries and researching answers for those customers where necessary. So, too, Honda is regularly engaging with U.S. customers via the Alicia_at_Honda account created by a corporate communications staffer. And, quite smartly, Toyota USA is interacting with its customer base, via the toyotanewsroom account, rather than simply posting press releases. That’s an example the folks running the BMWConceptX1 account could benefit from examining. They’ve posted eight updates since Sept. 30th, 2008 and all have them have been simple links to promotional content – photos on Flickr, a new Facebook page, a microsite, a trailer. Not exactly a visionary use of the medium.
Continue reading: Auto promotion: Using Twitter in the automotive industry »
Posted in Social media on March 30, 2009
Tags: bmw, ford, honda, toyota, twitter
From the Razorfish Living Lab: Carville
Editor’s Note: Sequestered within Razorfish’s New York office is the Living Lab, a flexible space that is part research laboratory and part living room. One day this past summer a Microsoft Surface appeared in the Living Lab. Experience Lead Bryan Hamilton describes how he and several colleagues put it to use.
Carville was the first Microsoft Surface experiment out of the New York office of Razorfish. It was created last summer over a four-week period and had two specific purposes: The first was to build experience designing and building with this new device; the second was to use a dealership scenario as a canvas to express a significantly experimental approach from what we had seen created before with the Surface. This approach was to embrace the game-friendly aspects of the mechanism itself (multi-touch, large enough for simultaneous use by more than one person and a table-like presence that encourages “gathering around”) to create an unexpected brand experience in an environment often cited as anxious for most customers in research.
Carville - A Razorfish Surface Application from Bryan Hamilton on Vimeo.
Continue reading: From the Razorfish Living Lab: Carville »
Posted in Portfolio on March 13, 2009
Tags: carville, dealership, microsoft, razorfish, surface
Here in my car 2.0: Rinspeed’s shape-shifting, taboo-breaking, iPhone-enabled concept car
In previous installments of this series, we’ve covered a few examples of phone-car convergence such as the Land Rover LRX. We would be remiss if we did not report on the iChange, the latest concept car developed by Rinspeed that was recently unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show.
Frank M. Rinderknecht, owner of Rinspeed Inc., says the iChange is a symbol for the fundamental changes the auto industry is undergoing worldwide.
Continue reading: Here in my car 2.0: Rinspeed's shape-shifting, taboo-breaking, iPhone-enabled concept car »
Posted in Mobile on March 7, 2009
Tags: automotive apps, iphone, Rinspeed iChange, Telematics
