Tag: interpublic group

A brief history of our brains and screens

Posted on by Lab Team

Originally published in Media Magazine.

A screen is defined as a surface where pictures can be projected for viewing. This term is not just related to media, it defines it; the screen is the membrane that “mediates” or stands between, an image and the individual viewing it. What happens without a literal screen? That image simply pipes directly into our mind’s eye so that we can “see” it in the same way we “see” a dream.

Before we discuss the future of the brain, let’s look at the history of screens. Plato talked about “The Cave,” a thought experiment about ancient people projecting flickering shadows on the wall of a subterranean dwelling – although we should focus more on the past 100 years. At the beginning of the 20th century, cinema, in the form of nickelodeons began to replace live theater. By 1950, television screens had become predominant, ushering in the golden age of broadcasting yet still connecting many brains to a single story. Continue reading “A brief history of our brains and screens”

Predicting Peak Media

Posted on by Lab Team

At the IPG Media Lab one of the things we track intensely is the ways in which consumers adopt new media technology into their lives.  As consumers have more options to connect with content, we’ve noticed a trend towards fully mediated lives.  Just as the Rotarians eliminated Polio, the engineers of Silicon Valley have seemingly eliminated boredom.  Consumers are filling the dead zones in their lives with content—in the elevator, on the bus, in the bathroom!

There is a concept called “peak oil“  that attempts to predict when oil production will max out. Estimates vary, but it’s predicted that peak oil capacity will happen at some point between 2006 and 2020. These estimates are predicated within the boundaries of known reserves and man’s ability to extract them. Continue reading “Predicting Peak Media”

2011 media and technology trends forecast

Posted on by Lab Team

Each year, the IPG Media Lab issues its trends report. This year, on the heels of the Consumer Electronics Show, we are excited to announce our six big bets for 2011.

From mobile’s rapid transformation from a niche platform to one that is converging with all our online activities, to new technologies that enable brands to interact with consumers in groundbreaking ways, the implications in 2011 for marketers and brands are breathtaking. Twenty years ago, technologist Mark Weiser wrote, “The most profound technologies are those that disappear. They weave themselves into the fabric of everyday life until they are indistinguishable from it.” 2011 is the year our traditional media and consumer tools begin to disappear—2011 is the year loyalty cards, cable boxes, and feature phones jump the shark; at the same time, mobile, gaming, and digital behaviors are now majority activities across all demographics. As these behaviors become ingrained and interdependent literacies, they are changing consumers and brands for good.

The Lab’s 2011 trends examine the changing communications landscape through the prism of technology, industry, and consumer developments. Here are six trends that illustrate the convergence of these parallel forces: Continue reading “2011 media and technology trends forecast”

Reports of CES’ death greatly exaggerated

Posted on by Lab Team

The techie masses at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show seemed burdened by a general sense of disappointment. Minds were not blown. The digital firmament was not torn asunder. Wallets were not gripped tightly in fearful anticipation of the imminent need to drop a paycheck’s worth of earnings on the new must-have, show-stopping electronic object of lust.

Of course, there was still plenty to see and much technical wizardry on display, but we are a furiously jaded audience. The escalating pace of innovation has created an expectation that each new generation of products will create both terrified awe and wondrous delight. For example, it was a few short months ago that Microsoft started promising the future of gestural control via Kinect, a new peripheral for the Xbox 360. A completely new interface went from the pages of sci-fi to the pages of a Toys-R-Us sales circular overnight. Just four months after its release, few people seemed to crowd the Kinect booth. CES attendees don’t want amazing. We want new amazing.

Continue reading “Reports of CES’ death greatly exaggerated”