Monthly Archives: March 2014

Innovation, Technology

In Reputation We Trust

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I’m a 90s kid, which means that I grew up with arcade machines and the first concepts of gaming in a virtual reality. Sadly, I haven’t heard of any progress in this sphere for at least a decade, maybe because of the lack of advanced technology or just the decreasing popularity of the idea, until Facebook’s recent acquisition of Oculus Rift.

Oculus Rift is a new virtual reality headset that promises to immerse players in the virtual world of their favourite games. The realization of my long-awaited dream wasn’t what surprised me the most in this situation though. It was the negative reaction of the community towards Facebook’s gaming industry investment attempts. Here are some of the top rated comments on the GameSpot website:

“Oculus has the chance to create the most social platform ever…” Aaaaaand there goes any interest I had in it.

And just like that my excitement for Oculus is gone. Here’s hoping Sony knocks it out of the park.

Wow… It seems that Facebook seriously needs to work on its image in the gaming industry or its reputation in general. Many people don’t seem to be trusting it due to the various privacy concern scandals and their belief that it cares only about money and not customers. For the same reason, many game developers are planning to cancel their contracts with Oculus, because they believe that Facebook lacks commitment that other game tech companies have and thus won’t be able to bring VR technology to the next level.

As a result, I’m very curious about how this situation is going to unfold. On one hand, Oculus partnership with Facebook allowed them to gain remarkable investment and an ability to target customers from the mainstream market rather than only gaming fans. On the other, disappointment of the gaming community is obvious and may drive future profits towards Sony, Oculus’s main competitor in the VR technology.

For Facebook this venture is a good opportunity to diversify its portfolio and to prove its serious intentions and involvement in the gaming industry. Because let’s admit it, for many hardcore gaming fans Farmville and Candy Crush aren’t even games 🙂

Innovation, Technology

From Smartphone to Smellphone

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Smartphones can do almost anything these days, starting from such basic functions as calling and texting and ending with scanning documents and creating spreadsheets and presentations. Out of 5 senses, they have already encompassed three: sight, hearing and touch. And while tasting or licking your phone might be a bit too much I admit, what about the sense of smell?

Brandchannel.com reported that Oscar Mayer has recently become one of the first successful pioneers in this sphere by creating the Wake up & Smell the Bacon app, a program that wakes you up in the morning by emitting a delicious smell of bacon right into your face through the scent vaporizer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PiWdF3u9C0w#t=79

Honestly I believe that this technology has a very big potential! In marketing and advertising the possibilities that this innovation brings are countless, especially for the industries that heavily depend on the sense of smell.

For instance, imagine going to Sephora and as you buy one of their products, they give you a small scent vaporizer as a free gift instead of their usual mini fragrance vials. You attach it to your phone, download their app and bam! It opens dozens of different brands of perfume which you can smell without leaving your room. So next time when you make a purchase you already know what products you want to buy.

This technology might become a compliment for many other products, such as deodorants, shampoos, creams and soaps, for beverages such as coffee and wine and even for cigarettes and tobacco industry. As I said before, the possibilities are limitless. Smellphone is still a very unusual concept for many consumers, but I’m very excited to see its future development!