Google Chrome- World Wide Maze & The Peanut Gallery

The past couple weeks have seen the launch of two more excellent Chrome Experiments.  One from the Google Chrome team in Japan & the other from the Data Arts team in San Francisco.

Chrome World Wide Maze, developed by the Google Chrome team in Japan) turns any website into a playable 3d maze where you control a marble ball and must navigate it around a multi-dimensional course.  By syncing with your Chrome browser on Desktop and mobile your smartphone becomes the controller.  It's a great way to demonstrates the benefits and syncing functionality of using Chrome across devices.  All the user needs to do is open Chrome on their mobile (provided they are signed in) and the desktop tab becomes the mobile game controller.  For signed in users, it's an incredibly powerful way to show the seamless transition from desktop to mobile when you use Chrome on difference devices (which is often the biggest pain point for any media bridging experience).
Check out the video below or head on over to chrome.com/maze to have a play.

The second Chrome Experiment that I'm excited about is called The Peanut Gallery.  Developed by the Creative Lab Data Arts team in San Francisco, 'PEANUT GALLERY is a Chrome Experiment that lets you add intertitles to old film clips using your voice, then share those clips with your friends. It uses your computer's microphone and the Web Speech API in Google Chrome to turn speech into text.'

The Web Speech API functionality in Chrome has a ton of potential.  My team has been working on various prototypes that allow users to control different sorts of experiences using voice control, particularly in situations (such as certain video tutorials) where the users hands might be occupied.  It'll be interesting to see how various brands can carry this idea forward in creating voice controlled experiences using just the baked-in functionality of the Chrome browser.  Anyhow, check out the video below or (as always) have a play around yourself over at Peanut Gallery Films.



Posted by: Reuben Halper

Chrome Super Sync Sports

As regular readers of this blog know, I'm somewhat obsessed with media bridging experiences.  That is, how do you seamlessly (relatively speaking) bridge an experience between desktop and mobile, or how do you create a bridge between a digital billboard and your smartphone, etc, etc.  My esteemed colleagues at the Google Creative Lab here in London have also been thinking about the same thing from an even broader perspective.  They have just launched a delightful new experience called Chrome Super Sync Sports that uses 'HTML5 features such as WebSockets for real-time gaming synchronicity on desktop and mobile, and Canvas and CSS3 for rich and engaging visuals.'  Here's how it works (as described in the official Google blog post):

'Smartphones and tablets are great for all sorts of games, and lately we've been thinking about new ways to play. Chrome Super Sync Sports is a new Chrome Experiment that uses the unique features of mobile devices to create a new gaming experience on big and small screens. In this game up to four friends can compete in running, swimming and cycling on a shared computer screen, using their smartphones or tablets as game controllers.'

Check out the overview video below and have a play around yourself at Chrome Super Sync Sports.

Doubleclick Rich Media - Media Bridging Desktop & Mobile

As you may have noticed from previous posts, I'm a bit obsessed with the media bridging opportunities where mobile is the glue that connects all other forms of media.  There's still a long way to go until it's seamless and elegant, but there's been some really nice progress, especially over the past six months.

One of my favorite examples (logrolling alert) was developed by my talented colleagues at Doubleclick (Scott Harmes - creative, Roberto Stocco - dev) in conjunction with Toaster Ltd.  The tech is called 'Channel Connect' and basically creates a communications channel between a desktop advertisement (such as a Youtube masthead) and an HTML5 mobile site.  It's not just limited to one user, so you can actually create an ad experience with multiple users competing/collaborating on the experience at the same time.  I think it has a ton of potential and look forward to seeing how agencies push these executions going forward.

Have a play with the demo here or for more details read below (full post on Doubleclick Rich Media Gallery blog):

Dubbed ‘Channel Connect’, this new Rich Media feature enables you to create more ways for users to connect with your brand.

What is it?

Channel Connect is a new DoubleClick package of Flash components and JavaScript libraries used to establish a communication channel between a desktop advertisement and an HTML5 mobile site.  The opened channel can be used to send any kind of information in either direction between a user’s mobile device and their desktop.

How can I use it?

Channel Connect turns a smartphone or tablet into a new input device, allowing users to interact with brand content more tactilely than a simple mouse.  Any Rich Media ad can be enhanced by switching mouse-interactions to gestures: turn a user’s mobile into a game controller or graphics tablet for maximum active engagement.

On a separate note you'll notice that it uses a QR code to initiate the mobile part of the experience.  That's definitely where most of the media bridging stuff falls down, so it's interesting to see Layar's announcement a few days ago that they're creating an easy way for publishers to turn standard print content into a simple augmented reality experience.  Really interesting stuff...

Media Bridging Examples: Red Bull, ING, & NCDV

Lately it seems like there have been an increasing number campaigns bridging different forms of media, particularly in terms of connecting smartphones with out of home digital signage (remember this McDonald's example from Sweden).  Additionally we've been seeing increasing amount of executions that use audio (particularly Shazam) to bridge between TV and a smartphone experiences.  One of the nicest executions I've seen comes from Red Bull & NBC.   Fans watching NBC's snowboarding competition - Red Bull Supernational had the opportunity to use Shazam to get video from the snowboarders POV, thus creating a nice two screen experience during the broadcast.  Check it out below:


via Digital Examples

The second example comes from Germany agency Agenta as part of their activation as sponsors of the German Basketball Federation.  Using their smartphones, people could connect to the billboard and use their phone as a virtual basketball to play a free throw challenge.  At the same time a camera snapped pictures of them competing and uploaded/shared it amongst their Facebook friends.

Really nicely done, especially in terms of linking participation offline with a sharing mechanism online.  Check out the video below for more:

The third example was created by JWT London for the National Centre For Domestic Violence.  They installed a series of interactive billboards in London's Euston station.  The first billboard shows a man shouting at a woman with a call to action encouraging users to use their phone to 'Stop This Now and Drag Him Away.'  Users could scan a QR code or go to the website to drag him away via their phone which pulled the man further and further away from the woman and across the other connected billboards while displaying anti-violence messages.

It's a laudable effort, but I'd be curious to understand how well it actually worked it and how many people took the time to participate.  Was it clear what was happening on all the connected billboards or was interaction just limited to the one and then continued across after a user began taking part?  Anyhow, check it out below:


Additional Articles: PSFK | Creativity | Digital Buzz Blog | AdFreak | Mashable