Light Lane

If anyone's ever had to cycle a bike around Dublin, you'll know that at the best of times you're taking your life into your own hands. Now imagine you could have a cycle lane everywhere you went. Well here you go.


Ok, fair enough, it's not exactly a cycle lane everywhere you go but it does help to make drivers aware of you as you cycle. Using lasers, the system projects an illuminated bike lane all around you wherever you go. Pretty sweet.

Augmented Reality System

Mobilizy, an Austrian business specialising in smartphones software, has developed a working location-based augmented reality system.

The system, The Wikitude AR Travel Guide, is a mobile travel guide with augmented reality functionality based on Wikipedia and Panoramio. First you search on a 2D map for landmarks in your surroundings, you then use your phone's camera with an augmented reality (AR) view. Basically you see where ever you point the camera, but with an overlaid annotated landscape showing points of interest and their associated information.

Imagine a situation where the digital landscape becomes sellable media, with any building having the potential to sell it's frontage as advertising space. Or perhaps you have your latest campaign running over relevant businesses various premises.

Demonstration video (working real time)

A Blogger and PR Exec walk into a bar...

Ok so it wasn't a bar, it was Edelman's offices on Stephens Green, but there were Bloggers and PR types. All in all the format was simple, a member of each camp gave an overview of what each group are all about, and then we had a group Q&A.

So what did we talk about?

The subject that probably took up the most of our time was how to approach Bloggers, from the perspective of a PR agency. In my own opinion I found it somewhat funny that the main piece of information that the PR guys would walk away with was that Bloggers aren't paid for what we do and we therefore generally have no interest in acting as brand representatives for some global corp. Further to this, it is common practise to send journalists and tv/radio types samples/tickets/freebies (etc. etc.) and yet no one ever thinks of doing the same to Bloggers.

Hopefully the PR guys really did walk away with an understanding that to communicate with anyone, Blogger or not, it is best done on a personal level. Isn't that what every ad tries to do - interact with someone as an individual? Why would you do it differently when you're actually trying to communicate with an individual.

There's another session planned for February, drop Damien a comment if you'd like to go. I'd highly recommend it.

On that note - a huge thanks to Damien for organising the whole thing. Bang up job. Cheers to Piaras too for the kind use of the venue.

Search Guru's Required

Are you a Search Genius?
Do you go to sleep and dream about SEO?
Is Google HQ number 2 on your speeddial?

Then perhaps 2009 is about to get a whole lot better for you! Cybercom (The Digital Marketing People) have two positions that need to be filled:

• Head of Search Marketing
• Paid Search Executive

Speaking from my own personal experience (being a current employee), Cybercom is the best job I've ever had (sorry previous employer types). Great people, top clients, a fun environment and never any two days that are the same.

Seriously, if you're into SEO and PPC check out the jobs.

GreenPix Zero Energy Media Wall

This is the GreenPix - Zero Energy Media Wall. A innovative piece of art, architecture, engineering and creativity. The project's aim was to create a sustainable, digital media technology for the curtain wall of Xicui entertainment complex in Beijing, adjacent to the 2008 Olympic Village. Utilising the largest color LED display in the entire world, and a first-of-its-kind photovoltaic system, the building becomes a self-sufficient organic system.

During the day solar energy is collected, and then by night the same energy is used to illuminate the screen.

The project was designed and constructed by Simone Giostra & Partners, New York. The lighting design and installation were done by Arup, in London.