Oh The Places I’ll Go! - Daydreaming about Oculus Rift

First there was WoW, then there was Second Life, now there’s Oculus. Exploratory worlds can be a place of escape, but also a place of great inspiration. When Linden Lab created the platform for Second Life, it was exactly that, a platform on which to build - this is a great study of where a passionate audience can take a platform. Literally building out this virtual world brick by brick, the documentary Life 2.0 takes you inside this world in which many people live many hours of their real lives.

I’ve been fascinated about imaginative places and dreams since I was a young girl. When a particularly exciting dream would stick with me, I would draw it out using my impressive box of 64 Crayolas. Today, one of my obsessions is the SHADOW project imagined by Hunter Lee Soik - amongst my favorite kickstarters yet. The app currently in development will slowly awake a user and allow them to journal their dreams and share with a community of others. This idea of cataloging what can be a forgettable mind state is a step towards connecting our unconscious minds with our conscious selves.

Artists are exploring this very notion as well. My sister, Lia Chavez, an internationally exhibited artist, has explored visions discovered while in a deep meditative state through her performance art series, Luminous Objects.

Visual as the Medium
Through the evolution of technology, gaming and interactivity, we’ve matured from initially web-based platforms, to now mobile - and visual will be the next medium which developers and dreamers alike will build upon.

During Facebook’s shareholders meeting post-announcement of acquiring Oculus Rift, Mark Zuckerberg said three key points that stuck with me. 

“Today social is about sharing moments. Tomorrow, it will be about sharing experiences.”

“Visual will be the next big computing platform”

“New platforms roll in every 10-15 yrs, now it’s mobile but augmented vision is next”

Brendan Iribe, CEO of Oculus VR said “We’re teaming up with Facebook to invent the future.”

In today’s DeanBeat, Dean Takahashi wrote an insightful piece on what the acquisition means for platform advancement:

“The Facebook-Oculus combination will accelerate the consumer deployment of virtual reality, but it is not the be-all and end-all for VR. I’m convinced that this sector will be both wide and deep, extending well beyond gaming. While Facebook is hiring a lot of the virtual reality talent — like a trio of experts from game maker and digital distribution king Valve — the industry is becoming a movement that stretches beyond more than just one company.”

So Let’s Dream a Little
There are many opinions about what a platform like Oculus could evolve into, as a fan and dreamer, I’ve imagined a few scenarios…

Enabling Time Travel
Imagine revisiting your childhood home using Google street view and having a media catalog that you could attach to the experience to pull in family videos and photographs - flipping through a digital album in the foreground. Or re-live a special moment in time (reunions, birthdays, wedding day, graduations, celebrations), tools like Oculus will not only help share experiences, but re-live them - even more-so when solo-lens capture tools are used (e.g. head-mounted and low-profile devices such as SoloShot, Go Pro, Google Glass, Narrative).

Driving Education & Connection
Augmented reality as an educational tool could be used to virtually teleport users to other places in the world. Similar to the power of reach that online education communities like Skillshare have, Oculus will inspire a community of teachers. Lately I’ve been watching a lot of wildlife and space travel documentaries. Imagine feeling as though you’re standing in the grasslands of Africa, with exquisite wildlife all around you. Animal sanctuaries could help drive awareness and education. Agriculturists and community activists could share their passions and purpose. Imagine NASA collaborates with a Planetarium to develop films that place you in the seat of an astronaut. How rad would that be?!

Commerce in the Home
Thanks to digital, the disruption of retail over the last five years has challenged brands to step up their game. Interactive tools like Oculus could fundamentally re-imagine everything from the shopping process to market week trade shows. And of course, to take a note out of Cher’s enviable closet from Clueless, imagine shopping aggregators such as ShopStyle, Google Shopping and Polyvore integrating into Oculus, so select pieces from your favorite designers or brand could be tried on - an updated take on the paper doll.

Designing the Unseen
For architects, urban planners, and landscape and interior designers, imagine virtually walking through your floorplan or urban environment - virtually concepting design directions as though you’re in a showroom selecting swatches and planning out the space. Google Maps is in process of mapping interiors of select buildings - by hacking into that API you could tour other famous buildings by greats Calatrava, Gehry and Foster to gain inspiration for designing your space.

Inspiring Content Creators
Take creative communities such as Vimeo, VHX.tv and Youtube to the next level with first-person point-of-view filming. See what musicians are up to backstage, get to know upcoming artists through creative series like Samantha Katz’s Gallery Glass - which used Google Glass to have a first person point-of-view of touring an artist’ gallery and process or explore a designers studio and browse a collection before it launches on the runway. The possibilities are endless.

Trying Something New
As a life-long skier and Coloradoan, I miss the slopes and don’t get in as much powder time as I would like living in New York. Imagine an immersive pod that serves up weather conditions similar to your favorite adventure sport location. Pop on Oculus, enter the pod, and get a rush of cold air to further dive you into the experience of flying down a double-diamond on the best powder day of the season. Skydive (and underwater) lovers could experience diving around the world and seeing the earth from above while feeling like a bird - a feeling I highly recommend everyone experience at least once in their lifetime.

Final Thoughts
Those weary of “this technology age” may be turned off by yet another device that seemingly detaches us from real-life. But I argue that by expanding our individual worlds through technology, it actually unites us more than divides. I believe creating new possibilities of interacting with the world around us will inspire great innovations, young and old. 

Written by Mary Elise Chavez, Creative Director of OysterLabs

Gold Nuggets of SXSW 2014: From Socially-Driven Brand Leaders

At OysterLabs, we collaborate with our clients as partners, brought together for a common goal - to grow their business through informed, strategic mobile entry. While we design and build mobile apps and platforms, we always keep in mind how mobile can empower their customers and workforce. 

Originally published on Social Media Today, below is my recap of the first panel of SXSWi 2014, which speaks to the importance of having your internal team adopt critical tools and behaviors to help evangelize your brand.

SXSW Interactive started with a bang thanks to Social Media Today’s #SocBizShakeUp breakfast event at the W Austin.

A fantastic panel led by SMT CEO Robin Carey included Michael Stenberg, VP, Web & Infrastructure at Siemens (@stenmic); Sandy Carter, General Manager, Ecosystems & Social Business Evangelism at IBM (@Sandy_Carter); Natanya Anderson, Social Media & Digital Marketing Coordinator at Whole Foods (@NatanyaP); and Andrew Bowins, SVP, External Communications at MasterCard (@MasterCardAndy).

Panelists discussed how to build a socially-engaged workforce today, utilize big data, and empower employees through relationship-building tools. Here are a few highlights from the panelists.

Michael Stenberg, VP, Web & Infrastructure at Siemens (@stenmic)

On building a socially-engaged workforce:
Companies have to adapt to the change that has happened. There is huge potential for B2B when social becomes a key element of the sales funnel – they turn more digital. 60% of sales funnels are taking place in the digital place.

It takes four elements to get a socially-engaged workforce:

(1) access
(2) training
(3) creating an environment (of content provided by the company where employees can start commenting, sharing and build an ecosystem)
(4) starting at the top and getting CEO engagement

On the importance of leadership taking part:

Enable top management: other employees will see them as an example and adopt their behavior. Avoid having a middle manager who doesn’t understand social relationships and tools.

On the importance of big data:

Does the corporation actually want to listen to this data? There are often many opinions, but if you ritualize learning from data, it fundamentally changes how decisions are made.

Sandy Carter, General Manager, Ecosystems & Social Business Evangelism at IBM (@Sandy_Carter)

On building a socially-engaged workforce:

Make your own employees socially-capable - create a digital brand army to represent your company and brand.

“You really can’t engage your customers if you don’t have engaged employees. IBM has approached it from a people perspective – social doesn’t change your culture, it reveals it. We embed it as part of our business process.”

On the intersection of big data and social:

I am fascinated by how we use and distribute the data. In our research division we’ve been looking at social profiles and we can assess 52 different personality traits based on tweets – that enables us to understand what consumers value. IBM ran 500,000 people through this process and really nailed personality and values. Instead of looking at what consumers bought previously, you can assess personality traits and leverage the data in a different way. It gives you a 40-45% higher likelihood that cross-selling and up-selling will work. This will change the way companies sell, recommend, and even assign employees to tasks.

My IBM SystemU Assessment from SXSW 2014

On innovation of internal tools to drive a socially-engaged workforce:

BlueTube (IBM’s internal take on YouTube) is used to learn and train employees. Digital IBMer helps build the digital eminence of all IBMers - IBM wants employees to be socially-engaged and out in the blogosphere.

On the importance of social influence data: 

Klout score will become the new SAT score as social influence becomes increasingly more important. IBM has its own internal version of Klout for employees to be rated by. IBM worked with MIT and found that an employee who is connected socially (with a potential client or executive) brings in anywhere from $700-$1700 of added value.

On the next big data trend: 

Here at SXSW, IBM’s Watson Food truck makes culinary recommendations based on personal preference data. Health care is a great example of cognitive technology insight – for example, Watson can consume all that data, then advise a doctor on the right potential treatment based on data. This translates to retail, as Watson thinks about how you want to shop and makes smart recommendations.Cognitive technology is the next big data trend.

Natanya Anderson, Social Media & Digital Marketing Coordinator at Whole Foods (@NatanyaP)

On building a socially-engaged workforce:

Social needs to be integrated into employees’ everyday lives, so it’s not disruptive and makes sense for the flow of their day. With 600+ social media accounts and 1000+ employees creating social content for Whole Foods, social is our culture. The best marketing we have are team members on the floor, talking to our customers.

On cohesion amongst customers and their values:

We are so mission-driven, this is part of everything we do. We have a shared value set with our customers; some customers connect on sustainability, some love great food experiences – so we now ask, how do we filter that down to the local level? The things that are important to customers downtown versus in suburbia are different – we need to teach our local stores what those customers care about. We’re looking at hyper local analytics, which help drive conversations. Social gives us the broader insight.

Andrew Bowins, SVP, External Communications at MasterCard (@MasterCardAndy)

On the impact of social today:

Paying for promoted tweets and holding that up as brand isn’t taking advantage of what social is. MasterCard has built an ecosystem, in 42 markets and 26 languages, that is entirely tied to social insights. Rather than standardizing buzz metrics, the conversation should center around trend and insight. Tell me something that helps my business – focus on how social and digital shapes the P&L.

On inspiring employees around a mission:

MasterCard is a technology company – we’re an enabler of payments worldwide. You have to give people a reason to believe, rally and be empowered. We want to continually encourage our 7,200 employees around the world. IBM’s Smarter Planet is one of the best social programs ever done.

On brands understanding what social really means:

Brands have a self-inflated sense that people want to hear from us and we know what they want to talk about. If you use big data to know what people want to engage in, you’re informed, rather than guessing. I’m a big advocate of curated content - 70% of our content is curated, which is how we authentically connect and participate with our customers.

Upon adopting this approach, we saw a 400% increase in engagement, had over 200 direct conversations, which created 500,000 unique conversation streams over time. Our addressable audience is 1.2 billion people. We’ve moved away from content pollution and now we’re earning trust; we see the data and build a story that is compelling and ultimately helps our business goals.

Written by Mary Elise Chavez, Creative Director of OysterLabs

I Want It Now: Delivery in the On-Demand Age

As much as we may scowl at the likes of Veruca Salt in Willy Wonka’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, we live in an instant-gratification society - specifically if you live in a highly-populated urban environment (New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles). You’re probably familiar with this way of living - you want it now, and you’ll pay for instant convenience. 

I’ve rounded up a few of my favorite companies in the On-Demand Delivery space - which will continue to explode in 2014. Tweet to me @MaryEliseChavez and share yours!

@uber | Uber.com

Everyone’s Private Driver™

My name is Mary, and I’m an Uber Addict. I used Uber 7 times this past weekend - and loved every ride. Friendly, well-mannered and streetwise drivers made my city-hopping a breeze. 

Uber uses Twilio to keep riders informed throughout the customer experience, serving up real-time text message updates. 

With $258MM of funding from Google Ventures, many have said Uber is the early winner in the on-demand transport space. However, this space is hot and quickly evolving, check out some other companies entering at different angles. 

• Sidecar - Select the vehicle, driver and price
• Lyft - On-demand ridesharing
• Hailo - The Taxi Magnet
• Zipcar - Rent a car for a few minutes or hours (an old favorite)
  
  

@seamless | Seamless.com

My use of Seamless hit a low when I ordered a cupcake from a shop… beneath my apartment. You see, I was in a House of Cards binge-fest and couldn’t be bothered to walk downstairs. 15 minutes later I was enjoying my Chai cupcake while gasping at the cunning of The Underwoods. 

But I’m not the only one, friends have shared their stories of delivery indulgence - like my friend that orders from her local french bistro before dinner parties and plays it off as “culinary talent.”

The convenience of any-time, anything food delivery is a luxury many urbanites rely on. 

The merger of Grubhub and Seamless in 2013 has enabled Seamless to file an IPO - expected to happen in the early half of 2014. Grubhub’s portfolio includes Seamless, Grubhub, MenuPages and AllMenus and boasts 150,000+ daily orders through the combined properties.

An honorable mention in the on-demand food space goes to Instacart, which deliveries groceries in 1 hour- my cousin lives in San Francisco and loves this service - can’t wait for it to come to New York!

Postmates

Need delivery in under 1 hour for anything - from food to cosmetics, books to an errand you don’t have time for - check out Postmates. With real-time tracking you can see the status of your delivery. Pricing starts at $5 and is based on distance of delivery. 

Postmates wildly popular ice cream promotion from last summer.

WunWun

Finally available in Brooklyn, WunWun (what you need, when you need it) is a similar concept to Postmates - delivery of anything at anytime. WunWun has partnerships with a sampling of brands (e.g. a 2013 promotion with men’s skincare brand Anthony for Men), the retailer absorbs the cost of delivery, to enhance the customer experience.

Interesting Marketing Gets You Noticed
Their Oct 2013 campaign to use the app and get Free Halloween Candy delivery (from the best candy shop in New York, Economy Candy!) was similar to Uber’s Kitten delivery campaign for National Cat Day in 2013.

Brands Joining In

Lifestyle-oriented brands are experimenting with this trend too, like Kate Spade’s Saturday. Last summer, the brand opened a shoppable, interactive storefront - complete with free 1 hour delivery. I love seeing native retail-brands experiment with digital applications to evolve their brands. 

Mega-retailers Amazon and Ebay Now (encourages shopping locally but has partnered with Best Buy and Target and is $5/per order) offer select merchandise for delivery. They have their own strategies and operations in place for on-demand and time sensitive deliveries - stay tuned for who comes out on top. 

Final Thoughts:
The winners will out perform with gold-star customer service. 

Written by Mary Elise Chavez, Creative Director of OysterLabs

My 7 Essential Apps when working on the go

Whether traveling, commuting or lounging on my couch, these are a few of my go-to apps when working from my phone. Tweet to me at @MaryEliseChavez and share yours!

@asana | Asana.com

Do Great Things.™

Nearly my entire life (personally and professionally) is organized with help from this brilliant tool. Its easy-to-use interface - both on desktop and mobile helps tackle large projects by breaking them down into a task-by-task approach - eliminating the overwhelming feeling of “there’s-so-much-to-do-where-do-i-start” conundrum!

As a big fan of David Allen’s Getting Things Done, Asana has helped me increase focus and productivity. I've evangelized the benefits of Asana for years to friends and colleagues - I love seeing how Asana helps them achieve their goals. Great for teams too - both as a collaborative tool and a roadmap planning tool.

@tempoai | Tempo.ai

A smart calendar app that brings together your contacts, appointments, directions, documents and recommendations to streamline your schedule. Tempo helps me be better informed prior to meetings, coffee meetups, events and dinner dates - reminding me on everything from directions to recommendations on where to go (also birthday reminders, thank you Tempo!).

It skims my contact list to pull in details about my appointment - for example, say I’m having “Dinner w/ Jen at DBGB”, it will recommend the Jen’s I know and give me directions to DBGB - this is particularly helpful when meeting up with clients - as related emails, documents and their LinkedIn profiles are pulled in (awesome!). 

@Pocket | GetPocket.com

In any given day we see 100’s (sometimes 1000’s) of media messages - from that hilarious Buzzfeed listicle that’s all over Facebook, to the latest staggering startup valuation that raised eyebrows (I’m talking to you Snapchat & What’s App) - digesting so much media can be daunting. 

Enter Pocket. With a handy browser plugin and smart recognition of links (right click on a link and you can ‘Save to Pocket’), I can collect inspiration and news as articles, videos, photo tutorials and blogs to a central place with easy tagging - that way, I can read content when I’m ready, rather than disrupting my workflow or hanging with friends.

During my commute I dig around in my Pocket app, and typically read 8-10 articles in 30 minutes, which is a great way to get in my daily dosage of reading. 

@8x8 | 8x8 Mobile Apps

8x8 offers a great virtual office setup - working seamlessly between desktop phone > computer > mobile. OysterLabs is HQ'ed in New York, with international offices in Moscow and Ukraine - 8x8 is super helpful with conference calls, shared-screen meetings and messaging for our teams around the world.   

@hootsuite | Hootsuite Mobile Apps

A great tool for streamlining social publishing efforts, interacting in tweet chats and webinars, and managing multiple twitter accounts at once. 

@instagram | Instagram.com

OysterLabs works with global brands that have audiences all over the world. Instagram is a powerful tool for businesses to visualize the culture and lifestyle of their brand. On any given day, I’m tracking efforts and social content to see trends and steer my clients down the right track. 

It’s also a guilty pleasure during #NYFW, #LFW and #SXSW. :)

@songza | Songza.com

Music is proven to improve productivity, stimulate creativity and make us overall better people. Songza is my go-to music app whether getting ready in the morning, working deep on a design project or getting my fitness on. 

With a scenario-based music concierge, Songza serves up curated playlists from their music experts (you can create your own too), to align with your Mood, Time of Day or Activity. 

My latest guilty pleasure playlists - “Girls: Marnie” and “70’s Pool Party”

Written by Mary Elise Chavez, Creative Director of OysterLabs