Google Street View Hyperlapse from Teehan+Lax Labs on Vimeo.

This is a very neat experiment from teehan+lax. It enables you to generate a hyperlapse from Google Street View.

If you don’t know what a hyper lapse is (look above) or you can see a few on Vimeo.

Teehan+lax discuss the app on their blog. You can go try the app NOW!

And then hack around with the code on github here: https://github.com/TeehanLax/Hyperlapse.js

Hyperlapse also uses GSVPano, Three.js and Google Maps Javascript API

And yes as with most of these experiments you will need a modern web browser to get the full monty.

 

The Automatic iPhone App  (Android coming soon - as always) then taps into your car’s onboard computer and (blended with the Smartphone GPS) offers a number of useful services:

1. Smarter Driving

2. Emergency Help When Needed

3. Health Monitoring for Your Motor

4. And Lastly (for the Forgetful)…

Plug-in Enterprise Vehicle Telematics

This is a useful map of the BaaS ecosystem produced by Kinvey. Unsurprisingly (as they created the map) they place themselves in the centre, whilst this has been the norm since Babylonia I am not sure if placing themselves in the centre of the map has distorted reality. But regardless of that the BaaS map contains some interesting information.

Kinvey highlight a couple of things on their blog - one interesting point is that mobile software development tool companies are moving down the stack with traditional enterprise moving up. Either by partnering, purchasing are creating their own BaaS offerings.  

 You can see the full size BaaS ecosystem map here.

W3C announce that HTML5 definition is now ‘complete’

Whilst it is not yet a ‘standard’ the definition is ‘feature complete’ and moves into interoperability testing and performance.  

 Also released: the first working draft of the HTML5.1.

Everything seem to be on track, so roll on 2014!! 

Bamboo isn’t just for Pandas! 

As a renewable resource bamboo has great sustainable credentials - but a mobile phone made out of the stuff?

That is exactly what the UK based design studio AD Creative are proposing.

With it’s mantra of ‘Reinventing Simplicity’ the ADZero phone certainly has a minimalist aesthetic that you will probably either love or hate.

For those that hate it - I should turn over to another channel now (WARNING: cat+toast)…

For those that love it - the Kickstarter project (to fund the final manufacture) is going live sometime in November 2012!

There aren’t that many technical details but the OS is going to be a special AD Creative skinned version of Android.

This isn’t the first phone to have great eco-credentials (see below) and I hope it won’t be the last, as the principles of sustainable design are good and something that we should all consider.

This is the pebble shaped Touch Wood SH-08C From Sharp/NTT Docomo.

Produced in a limited edition of 15,000 in 2011 and built from Cypress wood.

You might be ambivalent about the relative aesthetics of technology dressed in natural materials.

But I challenge you not to be moved by this video produced to promote the Touch Wood phone:

How many more sustainable uses for bamboo will designers come up with in the future?

Actually there are many examples around already. Here are a couple of examples:

Blackstar - A Bamboo Bike

The frame is made in Ghana from Bamboo and sisal - Blackstar is another great example of a sustainable design and business.

Bogobrush - A Bamboo Toothbrush

The bogobrush is made from bamboo and biodegradable nylon making it 100% biodegradable. This sounds like a gimmicky idea until you consider that 450 million toothbrushes are thrown away every year in the USA! (Imagine the global count).

If that isn’t enough - there is also a social aspect to the bogobrush enterprise, that will leave a nice shiny feeling to more than your teeth. 

For every bogobrush brought they will send another one to an individual in need. The reach out program is currently running in a number of US cities including Atlanta and Detroit, with more locales planned. Just think of the long term saving in medical and dental costs with an increase in dental health.

Random bamboo fact: For such a fast growing plant there is one thing bamboo doesn’t do very often - flower. With some bamboos only flowering once every 65 − 125 years!

So with all these designer bamboo products will we see demand outstrip supply?

As one of the fastest growing plants on the planet (up to 100cm/39in in 24 hours) bamboo should be able to keep up with demand.

What innovative uses for bamboo can you imagine?

We are intrinsically social animals, our ability to learn by sharing with each other, remembering and re-sharing has allowed us to benefit from many situations throughout our evolution.

Nowadays we don’t have to worry too much about finding food and avoiding the dangers of wild animals, but there are a number of instinctive social behaviours that we use to our benefit today, when out hunting for the best bargains or latest trends.

1. Liking

We have an inclination to agree with people we like or admire, often emulating their behaviour and purchasing patterns without realising.

Consider the power of celebrity endorsements… have they had an influence on your purchases?

How about the ubiquitous Like Button?

Described by Facebook as a way to ‘give positive feedback and connect with things you care about’.

We now give away and pass a Like’ on anything and everything. 

But has the success of the ‘Facebook Like’ somehow cheapened the meaning of liking something or someone? 

Especially as you can buy 1,000 Worldwide Facebook Likes for only $49.95!!

Does this, combined with Likejacking (a malicious technique of tricking users of a website into posting a Facebook status update for a site they did not intentionally ‘like’) mean we can we still put the authentic social trust on the simple Like?

Can liking ’Like’ be taken too far?

Inspired by Facebook, in 2011 an Israeli couple named their daughter ’Like’. 

“Like had a nice and international ring to it,” the father said, “Facebook has become the icon of today’s generation”.

“If once people gave Biblical names and that was the icon, then today this is one of the most famous icons in the world,” he said, joking that the name could be seen as a modern version of the traditional Jewish name Ahuva, which means ‘beloved’.

So, if you are liking something or giving the Google equivalent +1 - think about the social connection and  reinforcement that it projects.

2. Consistency

When we make a choice that doesn’t align with our previously held beliefs it make us feel uncomfortable and causes mental friction.

These beliefs and behaviours could be long held ones that we use to navigate through life or recent decisions and commitments we have made.

Once we have made a mental commitment to something, we find it difficult to undo the decision or renege on the commitment. 

It is much easier (mentally) to maintain consistency with the decision, to follow through and honour the initial commitment.

Have you ever said ‘yes’ to a commitment and then found it very difficult to extricate yourself?

3. Reciprocity

The social power of favours… you scratch my back… do unto others… Reciprocity has very deep history (I won’t go into heavy detail here but you can fill your boots with ‘The Golden Rule’ or ‘ethic of reciprocity’ on Wikipedia)

Our innate sense of fairness and cooperation often makes us seek out the product or service that will either win favour or repay a favour.

But a desire to repay favours can be our undoing, and can be used against us by marketeers. Consider those little freebies and gifts that cause us to repay or reciprocate later - with a full purchase!

4. Authority

Just ask the expert…

Deferring the decision of choice to an expert or authority on the subject is an obvious and easy option, if you have social connections with the expert - a colleague or friend - then their power of influence is even greater. 

You could be looking to buy a new television and have a friend who you know is mad on films and always has the latest in home theatre equipment. 

Rather than tapping into Google (the distant expert), tapping into (and benefiting) from the expert knowledge of your film buff friend will save you both time and energy.

Personal recommendations by someone whose opinion and character you trust are very powerful in helping you to make purchasing decisions.

5. Social Proof

The social power of peer pressure. 

When we are unsure what to do (or buy) we tend to look to, and then follow the crowd.

Selecting the product that is the most popular choice with our peers and friends reduces the risk of unexpected consequences.

By selecting the most popular choice we take this as ‘social proof’ that it is the best most proven option. It is also the easiest route and helps us build social connection to the tribe of choice.

6. Scarcity

A desire to project our individualism within our social group through the purchase and display of what others can’t get… We won the hunt and display the spoils!

We instinctively attach value to scarce resources, this value increases the more and more distant and out of reach the resources become. 

Think gem stones or caviar, or even the latest hard to find pair of trainers (sneakers).

FOMO or the ‘fear of missing out’ leads us to queue outside seasonal sales. Also when we bag the hard to find, we experience a euphoria and want to extend this feeling by displaying a social badge of honour and exclusivity… until everyone has the same - then we move on to the next big thing. 

From art to asparagus: Rare = Value.

 I shop therefore I am

As you can see the social behaviours above are often polar and contrary e.g. Social Proof vs. Scarcity. 

Given any situation or purchasing decision we would usually have one overarching behaviour that we would adopt and not necessarily consistently either.

It just goes to show that when it comes to making decisions at the point of purchase we are delightfully fickle and often illogical… all part of being human.