Interacting with cars that feel

Digital agency Soap Creative recently launched Cars That Feel, an interactive Vivid festival installation designed with Toyota.

According to AdNews, the installation transforms three Toyota Prius cars into “sentient beings” which respond emotionally to human interaction. Indeed, the cars are set to sleep during the day, but as the sun goes down the vehicles come to life and begin interacting with Vivid festival attendees.

“Soap is a collection of people who love to play, make and do,” Brad Eldridge, Soap Creative partner told AdNews.

“We’ve always been fans of Vivid and we’re stoked to be able to contribute a playful, interactive digital experience that brings something new to the festival.”

As Eldridge notes, each car boasts it’s own personality and connects with people via light projections, color and sound. The cars are equipped with 6 internal BenQ projectors, [Atmel-based] Arduino controllers and high intensity LED light rigs. Meanwhile, a custom app is tasked with controlling internal projection mapping, lighting, sound and animation.

The Cars That Feel installation is located directly under the south end of the Harbour Bridge from May 23rd to the 9th of June in Sydney, Australia. Festival goers can capture and share their images with the hashtag #carsthatfeel.

From the Jetsons to the IoT

Writing for AdWeek, Katy Bachman says the Internet of Things (IoT) “heralds the arrival of the Jetsons Age.”

Image Credit: Jeffrey Bowman, AdWeek

According to Bachman, three emerging technologies will lend the IOT its intelligence: sensors capable of tracking temperature, movement or speed; systems to integrate the control of devices; and a shared syntax that lets them talk to each other.

“Think of thermostats that turn down the heat after everyone has left the house; smart calendars that tell you to leave for that important meeting right now because traffic is bad; a refrigerator that updates your online grocery order when your milk has reached its expiration date or your lettuce is wilted,” she explained.

“[Or], apps that adjust your prescription dosage based on diet and exercise for the week; [and] the robotic vacuum cleaner that activates after the 20th person has walked through the door. Once the devices can talk to each other through the Internet, the consumer won’t have to push a button to make something happen because the devices will anticipate what you want. Yes, we are headed to a Jetsons kind of future.”

Indeed, as AdWeek confirms, 50 billion-75 billion connected devices are expected to create 13 quadrillion connections to the Internet and generate a staggering 200 exabytes of data a year by 2020.

Image Credit: Jeffrey Bowman, AdWeek

“It’s data that ostensibly can be used to improve consumers’ lives and indubitably will be used to market to consumers—bringing a whole new meaning to ‘reaching the right consumer at the right time with the right message,’” said Bachman. “Like personal computing and the smartphone did before, IOT will forever change how we live, work and play.”

Bachman also identified three significant categories that soon will be transformed by the IoT: fitness & health, home automation and connected cars. To be sure, the number of digital health exhibitors is up 40 percent at CES 2014, with more than 65 companies pitching digital solutions for diagnosing, monitoring and treating. 

Similarly, home automation is about to go mainstream with WiFi, smartphones and wireless sensors – while the connected car remains a major focus of both auto and electronics firms, as one in three consumers considers smartphone connectivity a must-have feature for their next vehicle.

The full text of the AdWeek article is available here.