Wednesday, July 26, 2006

The Future of Entertainment?

Today I had the privilege of being asked to think about things 6 years ahead. Thats pretty good going for somebody who has to scratch his head when asked about weekend plans on Friday evening. But as a part of a group helping create a Technology Vision for the 2012 Olympic games, it did jog the grey matter a bit. (and thats not just the hair pulling).

2012 is a long time away and a lot can happen in that time. But there are exciting changes afoot right now which could play themselves out interestingly over the next few years. Michella Ledwidge's Modfilms, featured currently in the Creative Commons website this week is one such company working on an exciting frontier - Remixable film content. Platforms which could allow us to share and remix film easily, blurring completely the lines between story telling, listening and participating.

Another area that got me thinking the more obvious one about Networked Digital Outdoor media. Where content/ advertising can be displayed and centrally managed, intelligently adapted and perhaps even occasionally personalized. (an ad in which Beckham winks at you if the display recognizes a brand you're wearing as you walk past?).

Outdoor advertising has seen a bit of a lift in recent times with summer, the world cup and the growing need for clutter cutting which is getting impossible to do inside the house. This article (subscription reqd) says that Outdoor advertising in the US crossed $6 bn this year and is growing at 8% and is expected to reach $10bn in 2010. (The maths clearly doesn't add up, but hey it makes a good story!) - the fact is with the clutter and confusion on Television, it may be a good time to get digital and creative in an outdoorsy way, especially while summer lasts. Digital displays cost 10X of traditional ones, but the payoff may be greater still. There is the added novelty value of bluetoothing information to user's mobiles and allowing people to actually interact with a hoarding.

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