Seeing is Believing: How VR Can Speed Time to Market For New Products

I am fascinated by VR and related technologies that can speed up time to market. Imagine if your brainstorm sessions were more fruitful, you could demo the ideas more effectively and sell more and quickly. VR programs such as Tilt Brush, Quill, A-Painter give users the tools to illustrate and collaborate on ideas. Powerpoint - move over! These programs help convey ideas in immersive settings and allow for ideas to flourish vs. forcing things into quadrants.

Once you draw up the ideas, then you can illustrate in fine detail with 3D modeling software. My colleagues Harry Brisson and Matt Price recommended I check out Blender 3D and Autodesk, maker of Maya and 3D Studio Max. There is also Unity -- an open source platform where majority of current VR/AR apps are created.

Majority of use cases for VR/AR/3D software are in entertainment (e.g., animation), education (e.g., training) and healthcare (e.g., doctors training on surgical procedures). They all underscore how we can create both efficient and higher quality storytelling/learning environments.

What if we were able to quantify how VR enabled groups to come up with more and better ideas, got agencies and clients to see eye to eye and overall just converted better? Any other ideas on which VR features or programs can be used in business?

How AI Seeps Into Everyday Life

If people can get emotional about content, why should we be surprised about emotional connections with robots that have life like features and voices? Hasbro's robotic cat that keeps Alzheimer patients company is a micro example of how AI can be social and part of everyday life. 

Here's my SIL's robot cat- whom she claims calms her down, doesn't come with vet bills and has a lifetime renewable by batteries. And here's another NYT journalist who agrees with her on the soothing qualities of robocats.

As we step into the post-real era, there are a growing number of industry reports on how artificial intelligence (AI) is poised to replace human labor. The Obama Administration's report on the topic noted a broad range (nine to 47 percent) of the US labor force can be threatened by AI -- especially if new jobs are not created at similar or higher rates than lost jobs. Spreading news of his latest AI-based initiative, Neuralink, Elon Musk even professes that digital super intelligence will surpass that of humans and take over. 

Ultimately institutions look for efficiency - AI will take over in cases where it's cheaper than the real life alternative. 

VR for Women's Empowerment: KAGIDER (Women Entrepreneurs Association of Turkey) Luncheon Speech

I had the honor and pleasure of attending a luncheon, hosted by Burcu Mirza, with board members of KAGIDER (Women Entrepreneurs Association of Turkey) who were in town for meetings at the UN. KAGIDER has an amazing mentorship program where they coach select young, low-income, high-potential women seeking employment and entrepreneurship. Their graduates change their (and their community's) destiny by either starting their own businesses or becoming successful at firms they join. KAGIDER leaders cited research pointing to millions of young women of employment age in emerging countries, who are neither able to pursue education, nor find employment. KAGIDER's work is to address this problem. Below is what I shared as my point of view on emerging technology and communication trends, which lead to a dynamic discussion on how these technologies can be used in educating and giving employment skills to young women.

Whatever the technology label might be, we have transcended into post-reality era.

A time when we believe what technology tells us more so than what we see in front of us. For instance, believing our GPS more than the traffic coming towards us on a one-lane street. Or, when children say good bye to Google Home when leaving the apartment.  

There are a few technologies that are driving our post-reality vision as ‘under currents’:

1.       With technologies such as VR and AR, this post-reality vision becomes more immersive and believable. And truth/experiences vary by each viewer not the director or the editor. Before we were told stories by movie directors, news anchors, journalists… Today viewers can look ever which way when immersed in a VR story. We choose the angle in which we’ll take that story – being our own editors.  

2.       Voice activation (e.g., Alexa, Echo, Siri, Adobe’s voice based photo editing technology) humanizes automation, IoT and other connected devices. They induce emotion and forge relations between humans and AI. (Students in a NY State University hacked Alexa to break up with it… some classmates who heard about the break up expressed concern. Post reality experience in this case is heightened by voice and emotion.)

Some companies are taking advantage of this technology in creative ways: eBay is offering VR experience in shops, Google is partnering with BMW and Gap on AR shopping experiences. Adobe is launching voice-based photo editing technology.

VR/AR are poised to generate significant dollars for technology and content makers. Deloitte called it the billion dollar niche in 2016. Some sources, such as Digi-Capital, make bolder predictions, forecasting over 100 billion dollars by 2020, disrupting mobile.

As these emerging technologies edge their way to become mainstream, gender and generational gaps appear. Nielsen study on VR technology (2016) shows a typical early adoption story on VR: Male and younger audiences are more likely to adopt. Women not as likely to be interested or aware! 

VR can fundamentally change the way we communicate in arts and politics. And if women are typically the storytellers, where does that put the female voice in arts, news, commerce and politics? If shopping is gamified in ways that suit men, will women – who are responsible for grand majority of household purchases-- buy more?

VR Headsets Go Beyond Gaming As The Latest Sales Tool

Back in December, I had published a marketoon by Greg Kessler on my LinkedIn account, suggesting we would be relying on VR headsets to paint a vision of the future. The idea behind this cartoon is the topic of a New York Times real estate section article this week. 'A New Dimension in Home Buying' by Jennifer Miller shows how Hallstead Realty is selling multi-million dollar properties by showing prospects a vision of what these condos will be through VR headsets. It's about evoking emotions and converting lookers to buyers when in the raw construction phase.

 

Hallstead's initiative is not only a clever gimmick, but hope that VR will have real commercial applications beyond gaming. Similar to real estate, VR headsets can be used in retail to show how to dress, cook, or experience a vacation. In auto, it can help drivers test their car in the wilderness, or through narrow streets of old European cities without leaving the dealer's showroom. If done right, VR stories can help propel new authors to best seller status by showing a preview of what those 300 pages hold.

 

As companies tie increasing profits to VR marketing, this type of storytelling will become mainstream (and with hopefully more attractive headsets)

 

My Goosebumps Podcast: How do you measure empathy?

It was a pleasure to do this podcast with Bryan Adams, founder and CEO of creative agency Ph. Creative, about word of mouth marketing. Goosebumps (co-authored by Bryan Adams and Dave Hazelhurst of Ph. Creative) is full of great tips and tools on digital marketing. We discussed how to:

• Create a hook to entice listeners and strike an emotional chord 
• Measure empathy, all the while looking at hard numbers such as sales
• Spot signs of viral content

It's also available on iTunes. Enjoy!

Millennials: One Size Does Not Fit All

Emerging Trend:  There is a growing understanding that not all millennials behave the same way.  

Implication:  Your millennial data is not flat. You may need to distinguish between lifestyles, life stages and other demographics.

Action:

1-      Get your millennial definition straight: Is it just adults, or do you need to include teens as well?

2-      Look into the differences between younger and older millennials. Those in college and those who are starting families will have distinct media and spending patterns.

3-      Measure values as well as attitudes. Are your millennials more likely to vote for green initiatives? Do they donate frequently?

Do you want to tune off?

Emerging Trend: We are increasingly expressing our desire to ‘tune-off’ in reaction to the flux of ‘big data’ in our lives.

Implications: Decline in app usage, email opens, click throughs, productivity and overall life quality. Increase in sensory sensitivity.

Action: Tune off! Or enable others to do so. Check out how Ikea helps customers design serene surroundings. See how JetBlue greets Web site visitors with Aruba get-away options. If you need more help, download the Dinner Mode app by Sloane Davidson to focus on your food and conversation at meal times.