NFC Jewelry + Mobile Apps = Cross-Platform Storytelling

April 24, 2013 by

Typically, when we refer to x-platform storytelling, we’re thinking about a story that spans multiple screens.

But, we’re venturing into a slightly different space to extend the definition of “x-platform” (cross-platform) – With a line of NFC jewelry for children (based on a character; and designed to be integrated within real-world “play”) with an NFC (near field communication) tag, that leads to a speech-based daily mobile app.

Our children’s apps (produced through our contentAI studios unit) do exceptionally well – with some months resulting in tens of thousands of Users.  But, we want don’t want kids to live solely with their eyes glued to digital screens – So, we have designed the first iterations of a line of jewelry that includes NFC.

How the heck are iPhone User’s going to access the app?

Well, unfortunately, iPhone Users can’t get that “magical” tap experience that NFC offers, but, they can save a URL as a “favorite” and access the app – But, the UI/UX with NFC is what we think adds real value to the user engagement – especially, with the youngest of early-adopters – Kids.

The idea of intuitively linking objects to mobile applications via NFC is an area we are deeply focused.  People still really like “things,” stuff they can look at and touch – extending the story from an object to a mobile app is an obvious next step for us.  Plus, we’ve gotten a whole new range of experiences in manufacturing and production of “things,” which has been a nice evolution.

Links and updates will be posted soon.

Filed Under: 2nd Screen, conversational mobile entertainment, nfc Tagged With: , , , , ,

Happy 2013 – The Year of 2nd Screen and IoT

January 14, 2013 by

contentAI studios and zyntroPICS Inc. wish everyone a wonderful 2013.

From our side, the focus of our ventures have narrow-focused to extending storied content experiences to 2nd Screens and the “internet of things.” (“IoT”)

Initially, we will be extending our own children’s app properties, which have done exceptionally well on mobile, to IoT products. Call them interactive toys, jewelry or companion products, we believe that especially children’s engagement is greatly enhanced when there are real-world objects included with the mobile/digital experience. This can allow for an individual’s imagination to take the object and make it part of their play and their own stories.

We’ll be announcing partnerships with some fascinating technology partners in the coming months. We’ll also be more active on the conference circuit as Exhibitors.

We hope it’s a terrific 2013 for All.

Filed Under: 2nd Screen, converged media, interactive story Tagged With: , ,

More Thoughts on NFC — A New Mobile Lifestyle Story

June 16, 2011 by

We’re technology agnostic when it comes to “how” people reach our mobile content and interactive storied experiences.

But, we want the entire experience to be intuitive and part of a broader shift in how User’s perceive their mobile devices and what’s possible with it.

QR-2D Tags have tried to demonstrate how a “bridge” between the real-world and a mobile experience could happen.  But, the QR-2D industry is fairly fractured and haven’t told consumers a compelling story about why this is part of a new mobile lifestyle.

Along comes NFC. . .

Lots of collaboration and a lot of money (primarily because “payments” is going to be lucrative), but this crosses over to advertising, marketing and even mLearning — Because NFC ventures are creating a compelling story about how mobile devices are essential to someone’s daily lives.

We posted in detail about this over on:  http://contentAI.com/blog

There are  range of new initiatives that incorporate geo-data with NFC scans — all creating a new platform for mobile stories and engagement.  We believe that QR-2D ventures and platforms will benefit from the NFC story, provided they jump on board; rather than argue technology formats.

 

Filed Under: converged media, conversational mobile entertainment, interactive story Tagged With: , , , ,

Waiting on NFC – Triggering Mobile Entertainment Experiences and Stories

June 8, 2011 by

We spend an extraordinary amount of time discussing “how” people quickly and intuitively access mobile web sites – particularly those that incorporate our interactive narrative experiences.

Much of that discussion is around QR, 2D and image recognition coding – combined with printed URLs (and type recognition options!) – and, even sending SMS messages with URLs.

In the wings, with a building momentum, is NFC.

Most of the discussion is around “payments,” but, already the applications for mobile marketing are emerging:

http://www.trustedreviews.com/news/new-x-men-film-uses-nfc-advertising

http://www.mobilemarketingwatch.com/%E2%80%9Cnfc%E2%80%9D-%E2%80%93-not-always-synonymous-with-mobile-payments-15638/

http://www.nearfieldcommunicationsworld.com/2011/04/28/37158/hotels-com-and-new-york-times-back-nfc-advertising-venture/

While NFC can’t work in the print publications space, it does work when there is near physical proximity and that’s one of it’s pluses — It’s nearly tactile and is a physical gesture that’s simple and could become habitual.  Particularly, if the same physical habit and motion is used for payments, dare we project, this could become a “standard.”

The other theory that’s kicking around is how NFC will improve QR/2D campaigns.

What?

No, really.  NFC mobile marketing campaigns will bring in a whole different creative group and money to this space; and, many hybrid NFC/QR campaigns should emerge from this.  QR (or 2D) campaigns should improve and generate more traffic and awareness.

How does “conversational mobile marketing and entertainment” fit into the picture?

For us, it’s about being a part of intuitive mobile experiences.  2-way conversations (messaging) on phones remains User’s primary, habitual engagement.  If NFC fulfills the role of being the most intuitive format to reach our applications, that’s a good thing all around.

Certainly, as we envision the hypothetical cereal aisle full of children chatting with the characters on  cereal boxes via Mom or Dad’s mobile, NFC is going to make that an easier future to fulfill.

Filed Under: conversational mobile entertainment Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Our Mobile ESL and Interactive Narrative Platforms – The Week

March 25, 2011 by

Fascinating week here.  The http://contentAI.com team wrapped  their http://ESLai.com conversational apps into Android with the http://appsgeyser.com online platform.

We’re anxiously awaiting AppsGeyser to tweak their platform so that the apps can be submitted into the new AMAZON Android App Store (whatever it will be called???).  Word is “about 2 weeks.”  In the meantime, the apps are already on the main Android Market, GetJar and a few others.

The news that BLACKBERRY’S tablet will be compatible with Android apps was a fascinating development in terms of some level of standardization emerging.  We hope more OS’s will allow x-platform app access.  We still highly believe in mobile web and a build-once strategy; but, the AppsGeyser solution allows us to leverage our single build but be found in multiple locations.

Finally, we were impressed with the Vid.ly “universal URL” offering to deliver optimized video across all mobile (and desktop) devices and platforms.  Very cool.  It also has an embed feature which is the first we’ve seen for mobile (though we’ve talked about it endlessly).

It’s great to see the mobile ESL efforts taking off.  Global traffic has increased on ESLai.com — and, the engagement analytics are terrific to review.  But, the real “perk” is reviewing the anonymous chat logs from the ESLai.com and contentAI.com mobile apps — Are we creating “believable” scenes between virtual characters and people?

You betcha.

Filed Under: converged media, conversational mobile entertainment, interactive story Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Near Field Communication (NFC) – Google Rolls into Portland for Retail

December 10, 2010 by

From our contentAI blog – We think about End User experience FIRST.  NFC is an emerging mobile “bridge” from the Internet of Things to mobile engagement.  We think it has some legs:

These are the days when being a mobile content technology and service are terrific.

Near Field Communication, which has languished and been plagued by security issues, is taking one giant step forward today with Google’s announcement of rolling out a limited program in Portland, Oregon at the retail level:

http://googlemobile.blogspot.com/2010/12/cross-posted-and-excerpted-from-hotpot.html

Does this sound competitive to QR, 2D and Location Based (GPS) apps?

It is.

Will brands and advertising agencies be attracted to this?

It’s about the User Experience.

How simple and intuitive is the experience?

Being a Portland company, we’ll be trying this out and updating this post.  But, every indication is that NFC could be the next ‘really big thing” with mainstream mobile adoption.  RIM, Apple, Android, Nokia along with the major US carriers have all made announcements in the past month about their commitment to NFC at the OS, device and carrier level.

Filed Under: converged media Tagged With: , , , , ,