What's in Store

Last year I came across a news report that introduced a new camera company named LYTRO. Lytro was not entering the field to compete against the camera giants (Canon, Sony, Kodak, or Nikon) with the same technology. Lytro was introducing a completely new technology. The new technology would change how the consumer views the camera, experiences the picture taking process, and how they interact with the finish product. One of my facebook friends recently posted the Lytro website link and to my surprise the camera was finally released. The Lytro camera is not your standard camera; it has a square tube shape, therefore it also has a square picture format, and they have added interactivity with your images. Lytro’s breakthrough technology captures the entire light field, unlike traditional cameras, which only capture a single plane. This allows you to refocus your picture after the fact with a single touch, either on the camera or on your desktop. Take a look at the example below. ...

My office manager brought in this ad for Mio, a water flavor enhancer, because she knew I would like it. Here is the before image of the ad: After you dunk the ad in water it looks like this: She pulled the ad to bring it in but before she could, her husband found it and dunked it himself. She was furious because she thought he ruined the ad. However, when the ad dries it goes back to white and we have already dunked it two or three more times! It is engaging and interactive and of course since the product has to do with water it completes the experience. I'm not sure there are many ads that we would actually follow through with like this because you have to pull the ad and walk to the sink. This ad, however, seems to have peaked our curiosity. Now, I wonder if they will sell more product. Patty Jensen