I’ve developed about half a dozen 3D projection mapping projects, but this one was by far the most demanding.

We were faced with challenges galore: 14 surfaces of assorted shapes and sizes, a 1,500 lumen projector (rather weak), a budget of $0, two people and a 48-hour deadline. Alas, we beat our deadline by two whopping hours, all while running on fumes and black gold.

We transformed a small dark room into a sprawling cityscape. A Coldplay-inspired music bed and a poignant voiceover track helped transport the audience into the story, pixel by pixel, building by building. It was fresh, captivating and emotive. Flat video on screens just doesn’t compare with the potential for immersion offered by a multi-sensory AR installation.

Video soon to come.

A little peek at the 4-canvas projection-mapping installation we developed last week… It was the fruit of 3 sleepless nights and a whole lot of energy drink.

Our brief was to take corporate storytelling to the next level. I think we gave PowerPoint a run for its money.

WHERE GOOD IDEAS COME FROM by Steven Johnson

Social Data: Uncovering the REAL Value of Social Media

I thought I’d share a presentation that my team created for a CEO symposium a few months back. The brief: conceive a piece of executive-level content that approaches the topic of social media from a unique and future-facing perspective.

The C-Suite appears to be tired of the prophetic “social media is mandatory” sermons from the sea of self-proclaimed ‘gurus’ and ‘experts’, so I had to dig deep to uncover a viewpoint that’d be both factual and actionable. Enter Social Data. It’s not an analytics tool, nor is it a company. Social Data represents the gold hidden beneath each and every conversation, interaction, relationship and profile on the web. It is richer than rich; perhaps more valuable a resource to companies than a corporate social network presence.

That’s right. The mining and application of social data has resulted in some pretty compelling case studies:

• Tweets (and their associated data) have proven to be effective predictors of stock market trends.
• The future of TV ratings and the valuation of modern broadcast advertising could be forever altered due to the usage of social engagement data by companies like Networked Insights. This past May, the company released its report, “SocialSenseTV: Network Ratings Report, May 2010”, which drew on 1.5 billion online interactions from 300 million people to measure the relative engagement of segmented TV audiences. Nielsen: watch your back!
• Even metadata associated with a person’s LinkedIn profile can be used as a risk-assessment calculator for banks, credit card companies and lenders. Here’s how:

Social graphs allow credit issuers to know if you’re connected to a community of great credit customers. Creditors can see if people in your network have accounts with them, and are free to look at how they are handling those accounts.

The presumption is that if those in your network are responsible cardholders, there is a better chance you will be, too. So, if a bank is on the fence about whether to extend you credit, you may become eligible if those in your network are good credit customers.

- Joel Jewitt, Director of Business Development, Rapleaf (article)

These brilliant applications of social data simply set a foundation for what is possible. I predict that there will soon be an extensive BI ecosystem fueled entirely by social data. Why? Because it can provide value to practically any company, helping to drive efficiency, competitiveness and revenue.

Keep your eyes peeled.