A Twitter Powered Paintball Gun? Why Not!

Creative shop iStrategyLabs is helping move the internet of things from a buzzword to a reality, launching “social machines” which allows real world objects respond to social actions like tweets. They’ve worked on a GE fridge that unlocks when a group checks in on Foursquare and recently launched a paintball gun that shoots when you Tweet. Oh, the power of Arduino…  

Interactive Billboard Gives Away Shirts For Tweets

The internet of things is everywhere from connected fridges to tweeting plants. To see an example of a brand capitalizing on the trend, take a look at Allen Solly’s recent campaign that uses an interactive billboard to give away dress shirts for tweeting at the brand. Leveraging Tweeple, users that hashtag rainingsolly will inch forward one of the many shirts on a vending machine-like board until it drops.

GE Unveils “Social Fridge” at SXSW Using Grandstand Platform


For those of you that like to party dangerously the GE Garage at SXSW 2012 actually makes you sign a waiver on their iPad before you can enter their event, which showcases serious industrial machinery (alongside less threatening margaritas).  The most compelling station in the tent though is actually the most innocuous—it’s a Social Fridge designed in partnership with iStrategyLabs which leverages their Grandstand interactive social media platform.

The concept is simple: if ten people check-in to the fridge on Foursquare it physically unlocks and allows you to grab a free beverage reward.  A screen next to the fridge acts as both a call-to-action and a scoreboard showing you how close you are to winning your prize.

The Grandstand suite includes a number of games that let you connect people in novel ways using social media at events.  It has great applications for brands and venues, and GE’s customized display shows that using social media to trigger events in the physical world can be used to great effect. Watch a time lapse video of the fridge construction below: