Futures, facts & fast food

MY SXSW ADVENTURE BY AMELIA WARD#PROUDNERD2018

SXSW 9-18 March 2018

The South by Southwest Conference and Festival (SXSW) held in Austin Texas, started in 1987 as a music and film festival with 700 attendees, and has now expanded to include interactive media, gaming, and comedy, with conference programming and a number of diverse tracks. Over 100,000 people attended the conference and it continues to grow each year.

SXSW 2018 delivered everything it promised: an overload of information, kilometres of walking, experiences both physical and virtual, FOMO around almost everything. Sure, nothing ground-breaking or earth-shattering, but plenty of inspiration and conversation-starting content. Recurring themes included globalisation, democratisation, and a genuine focus on the future. Attendees standing in overabundant daily queues have lovingly nicknamed it “SXSWait”.

Here are some key highlights from the SXSW 2018 Interactive track that you probably didn’t read about in mainstream trade press.

Amy Webb: Emerging Tech Trends

Future Focus

Starting my SXSWi week with Futurist Amy Webb felt like a real privilege. Her democratised research style and predictions for the future were compelling, and each outlook had an optimistic, pessimistic or catastrophic probability – though sadly, zero chance of an optimistic outlook for any of them.

With smartphones having peaked both sales and technological advancement, 2018 was announced as “the beginning of the end for smartphones”. I believe this is yet another signal for brands to kickstart their journey into new tech. Being an early adopter in VR/AR, wearables and voice will keep brands ahead of the learning curve, especially once these technologies become mainstream.

Webb predicts that by 2021, 50% of people will interact with tech via conversational/voice activation – a massive missed opportunity if brands haven’t accounted for this in their roadmap.

Other super interesting trends noted: 1) There will be changes to biometric passwords (moving from fingerprints to faceprints and voiceprints). 2) That by 2038 human data will be the next big commodity, basically that “data = oil”. 3) That augmented reality/mixed reality (AR/MR) will continue exponential growth, especially for utility and immersive experiences.

You can read the full FTI Tech Trends report here

Ray Kurzweil: The Power of Ideas to Transform the World is Accelerating

Future Focus

Continuing the Futurist theme, a few days later I watched a fireside chat with the one and only Ray Kurzweil. A man who has spent 50 years predicting the future.

Further to what we already know from his contribution to PHD’s own Sentience and Merge, there were a few outtakes I noted down. Particularly that:1) Biotechnology and nanomedicine are getting traction, we should expect a flood over the next decade.2) To be an entrepreneur you need to be an optimist (take note Elon). 3) Due to the diverse nature of the information being fed into AI, we need to ensure that the ingested data is not biased. However, by trying to un-bias the information being ingested, are we creating a bias anyway? It must be a truthful account of data and information. 4) Kurzweil is publishing a fictional book called “Danielle: Chronicles of a Superhero”, and her story is an optimist’s future about superintelligence in a young girl. 5) I learnt that futurists do have a future after the singularity in 2029, there is plenty more to come after the event horizon.

What does that mean for brands, marketers and humans? That we need to prepare for Sentience in 2029 – the date that machines pass the Turing test. Organisations need to think about AI development over the next 11 years. What [regulatory-compliant] data is being collected now and how is it being activated across marketing? Having a clear data strategy will enable brands to start their AI journey sooner rather than later.

The last part of the chat included Q&A where an audience member asked if we could be living in The Matrix: and his answer was yes, theoretically, the universe itself could be a computer – it already systemically encodes information. Grand evolutionary steps show that it is a potential computer simulation. So, there is every chance we are living in a version of the Matrix (organic or otherwise)!

whurley: Quantum Computing

Things to scramble your brain

A real brain scrambler, and this one got me hooked, was the very interesting William Hurley (“whurley”) humanising Quantum Computing. For the entry level explanation, I recommend starting with his Quantum Computing for Babies picture book. But in the meantime, let me tell you what I learnt.

1) “Bits are dead”. It’s all about qubits, or quantum bits, the exponential growth over the past 3 years combined with the predicted progress over the next few. 2) When there is more open source access, quantum computing will take off even further. 3) Google’s very recent 72-qubit processor is currently the fastest available and could play a role in making quantum computer functionally useful. However, the instability and cooling requirements for quantum computing continue to hamper progress. 4) Whurley predicts a 100-qubit processor will come out within the next 12 months.

What does quantum computing have to do with anything? Imagine the processing power of a quantum computer, using deep learning Artificial Intelligence, to come up with the cure for cancer, or even global warming.

It may very well be Google who bring this capability to solve the world’s problems. It doesn’t have much to do with marketing, but everything to do with our future – I highly recommend you watch this space…

FOMO alert:SXSWestworld

Experiences

What would South by Southwest be without experiences? Music, film, activations, baby-goat patting, they had it all.

Pre-arrival teasers and invitations to visit Sweetwater were in high demand. To be honest, I am devastated that I missed out on a chance to experience the HBO Westworld: Live Without Limits Weekend activation. But I can’t write about SXSW without talking about it; because I consumed every article I could find at the time, I feel it needs a mention!

1) It took around 2 months to build a recreation of the set. The activation was only open for 3 days.2) Tickets sold out in under a minute each morning when they were released. 3) Guests felt as though they were at the real Sweetwater (a Delos destination) talking to hosts, looking for clues and experiencing the Mariposa Saloon. 4) “Hosts” at the Sweetwater location never broke character.

Luckily for me, the event was followed up by a panel with the HBO marketing team speaking about the transmedia franchise they created for Westworld. An interesting insight into the lengths they went to ensure it was a consumer-first experience; creating a fully immersive digital eco-system for Westworld and Delos Incorporated. Their 5 top tips for success:

#1 Choose your battles wisely#2 Have a great story to tell#3 Construct your world#4 Cast the audience in juicy roles#5 Break all the rules

PHOTO CREDIT: HBO

Nerd-gasm Experiences

A highlight of my week, was (one of my favourite novels) the Ready Player One installation. Dark and moody with neon lights, set up like scenes from the movie; complete with 80s quizzes, a photo opportunity with a DeLorean, oversized Iron Giant, and creating your own avatar. There were also interviews with author Ernest Cline, and the movie cast. Everything about the activation took you deep into the movie.

However, the one thing it really did - deliver to the SXSWait theme… I waited 2 hours to experience around 10 mins of the OASIS, via the HTC VIVE VR headset/hand controls. By the end of “Battle for the OASIS” my heart was beating and I’d killed a lot of IOI agents! It was definitely an immersive and exciting experience – but I’m not sure whether it was worth the wait for such a short play ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Both experiences gave participants a chance to fully immerse into the imaginary world being brought to life – both absolutely nailed it, with plenty of PR in the process. Big budgets – yes - but it was all in the execution. Experiential marketing creates a relationship between the brand and the participant, lasting long after the event has finished. When it works well, it’s worth it. The kind of ROI every marketing team loves.

New RealityThe New Reality

Now that we’ve moved on from Artificial Intelligence being the most overused buzzword in the industry – it’s all about Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality. SXSW had a proliferation of sessions with VR experts and organisations who are currently using and creating tech on ground. As VR/AR/MR become more widespread, use-cases and immersive opportunities will continue to gather momentum.

The key techniques for VR include the most commonly used 360-degree video, also known as immersive video. I bet you’ve all seen one of these before – take a look at the Waymo driving experience as a good example (another interesting session I attended, with their CEO John Krafcik). Then there is volumetric video, using multiple cameras to capture content in 3 dimensions. Think of a person in hologram-style, with depth of perception included, in a VR experience. This method is set to overtake 360-degree in the near future, though there are currently limitations with fidelity due to the high bandwidth required. In the NASA Storytelling session we were shown some stunning examples of photogrammetry, where you take multiple 2D images and stitch them together to create 3D imagery. Most of these images are created by the general-public, who NASA rely on as content creators, and then shared around the globe.

Although VR is still only on it’s 2nd wave, when we look at the current capabilities of augmented reality it’s already gone mainstream - think about the lightweight AR & MR code built into Snapchat and Instagram apps on your smartphone. The next wave of both technologies is going to be driven by the continued innovation and uptake of wearable devices. During the SXSW sessions, there were numerous mentions of the imminent launch of Magic Leap - the anticipation was almost tangible!

What can we expect from the future? AR will provide new ways of storytelling. It will provide contextual relevance and experience which is narrated and curated natively within an AR platform. In 10 years time Newsrooms will be creating immersive experiences with AR; along the way they will have learnt a lot from gaming about non-linear storytelling, and how to ensure people are engaged throughout. Multi-sensory storytelling experiences will be mainstream. We can expect the evolution of storytelling to implicitly involve the consumer, an immersive theatre, with an increase in intensity and emotional connection.

New RealityThe New Reality

A real highlight for me was the Virtual Cinema exhibition; showcasing immersive art projects by some extremely creative international producers.In this Virtual Cinema there were some really engaging interactive films. If you can, I recommend getting your hands on some VR tech so you can experience some of my favourites:

1. RONE - The 360o film and interactive VR art gallery, by StudioBento, takes the viewer inside the world of Australian street-artist Rone. We visit the abandoned and dilapidated buildings which host Rone’s epic murals, in various states of decay, and watch the artistic process behind his hauntingly beautiful works.

2. Hold the World – Sky & Factory42’s virtual reality experience provides a one-on-one audience with natural history broadcaster, Sir David Attenborough. The viewer is transported to London’s Natural History Museum in a behind the scenes interactive experience, handling rare specimens from their world-famous collection.

3. Isle of Dogs (Behind the Scenes) – A 360o VR film, which gives the viewer a behind the scenes perspective of Wes Anderson's upcoming stop-motion animated film. An interesting perspective of face to face with the cast of dogs as they are interviewed on set, with sped up footage behind you of the crew creating the animation.

4. Space Explorers: a New Dawn – A VR film about space exploration by Felix & Paul Studios. An interesting insight into the lives of NASA astronauts as they navigate the intense requirements of their training and missions.

Innovation & inspiration

Taking It Down a Notch

In my last few days of the conference, with information-overload at capacity, it was time to take it down a notch and enjoy:

• The world’s longest cheeseboard at 21m with 100 varieties of cheese -thank you Wisconsin

• Very talented musical and comedy acts - Aussies and locals• A stroll through the trade show to see the latest in robotics

• 3D chocolate machine• Remote controlled robots• AR business cards• Even a motion-controlled DJ kit

Completely inspired and ready for the future

Inspirational Adventure

If you have made it this far into my SXSWi experience, sincere thanks for your time and attention! As you may have gathered, this experience truly satisfied my inner-geek.

There are some exciting changes ahead in our future, especially the opportunities with new technology: voice UIs bringing us personalisation without being creepy, and frictionless access with no screen required. Augmented reality in our everyday; 3D visual experience overlaid in our world with so many potential applications. Advances in computing and biotechnology which could potentially save the world’s problems… the list goes on.

From future trends, experiences and diverse thinking, through to globalisation, future storytelling and new technology – my first SXSW was a truly inspirational adventure.

ThanksIf you are interesting in learning more

please contact:

Amelia WardHead of Digital, Sydney

amelia.ward@phdmedia.com