Admit it— ever since you saw Minority Report (more specifically, the scene where Tom Cruise plucks data and images from the air and interacts with the information  via a transparent, floating ‘screen’)  you wondered how far off into the future you’d have to wait to see this kind of tech in action.

Well you’re in luck because the Russian-based team at DisplAir is making this sci-fantasy into a reality and the possibilities for its application are sky high.  What are some of the cool features of DisplAir? Well, aside from being the  “Most Amazing Display In The World, DisplAir boasts a fully interactive floating screen that is wind-resistant and permeable. (Oh, and it reduces eye strain as well)

Relatively new, DisplAir had spent 2011 going through prototyping  and recently entered the world advertising market earlier this year with its debut in Germany.  Prior to its debut, DisplAir had gained attention from Microsoft, Intel, and Google’s Russian counterparts and is now currently looking for partners in Silicon Valley.  It’s pretty exciting to think about how such large scale players in the tech industry will develop and integrate their products to function and interact with DisplAir.

What’s interesting to note is that representatives from DisplAir’s PR team are reaching out directly to advertising agencies around the globe to further demonstrate how this technology is positioned to be a game changer in the world of display advertising.  There’s even talk of a feature that allows ‘scents’ to be installed into the display which would undoubtedly open the door for multi-sensory user experiences.

Excited yet? We are. For more information, check out DisplAir’s Blog to stay in the know. In the meantime, Back To The Future tech junkies have some serious catching up to do. After all, aren’t hoverboards way past due?

*image courtesy of DisplAir

Innovation is now moving at the speed of thought with the onset of new, wearable tech— think Google Glass ,  Myo- the gesture controlled armband, and Apple’s  iWatch.  It will be interesting to see how these technologies will be either embraced or shunned by the general public.  Glass naysayers have already begun to voice concerns regarding  how privacy will be an ever-increasing issue when the ability to spy-record interactions without consent falls into the hands of those who would use it for nefarious purposes such as being a creepster.

Will these examples of new, wearable tech elevate us to what our past plaid shirt and flared-jeans-wearing-selves envisioned as the “future”?  ( Hoverboards, you’re next) Maybe not quite as far-fetched as what we saw in Minority Report (yet), but we feel like it’s headed in a great direction from a creative standpoint.  These technologies will provide a whole new way for consumers to engage and interact with brands and create an entirely new playing field for the world of advertising and design.

We’re always looking for ways to improve how we experience the world and our daily lives— and while there is truth in the thought that simplicity is best, there’s no denying that technology and its potential innovative applications can be so much fun.

Image courtesy of Google Images.

Ad Age recently did a quick study on consumers in their 20′s and how they engage with technology over a one hour period. The consumers switched to different media 27x in an hour! They swapped between iPad to phone to watching TV, etc. This study is really looking into the future consumer. Young consumers in their 20′s are really the first type of consumer to have grown up on technology. They are so used to having a smartphone, tablet, and iPod all at their finger tips. That also means their attention spans are spread out and they are only focusing for a few minutes at a time on each medium.

We think this could have a big impact on marketing to these consumers. We will not be able to reach them through a :60 TV spot let alone a :15. We will soon all be learning how to get messages out in short burts so that this consumer can see them and quickly move on to the next thing. Mobile Ads, Ads within TV shows, free downloads while browsing on tablets, could all become mainstream mediums in the near future.

Check out the full article, here.

As seasoned designers and art directors, we like to think that here at Barc we practice the art of “Less is more”. Even though the phrase stems from a founder of modern architecture, it carries over into many visual communication disciplines and fields, including graphic design, advertising and marketing. Obviously some designers and agencies have pushed this idea to the point where some of us don’t really get it, but perhaps that was the point. Maybe that piece of creative was designed to just get your attention and puncture a breathing hole in the urban wall of clutter. Since that wall of clutter has expanded into an online world of muddle, designers and creative gurus alike are taking yet another look at simplifying things.

When it comes to web design or social media, how can we make an impact in a forum where clients don’t necessarily need a professional to design a site or page in this era of DIY? As strategic thinkers, it’s especially important that we pose questions for ourselves and for our clients that challenge us to think about the objective of the website or page first and foremost, and secondly, whether it can it be achieved in a minimalist fashion in order to cut through the clutter.

The below article focuses on portfolio websites, however, we think that the concept of “Undesign” should be considered for all facets of visual communications. And why stop there? Maybe we should go deeper and see how our own lifestyles could benefit from taking a breather, finding space and clarity, and keeping things simple.
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