Zone’s Ricky Wallace handpicks and shares the five best stories on digital trends, experiences and technologies…
1. Is Excitable Edgar the top-performing ad?
As the countdown to Christmas intensifies, brands up their game in the advertising stakes. But how much do these festive adverts contribute to the overall experience for customers? Opinium’s brand research gets under the hood of some of the best Christmas ads to see what is really resonating with their audiences.
It interviewed more than 6,000 shoppers, using key metrics including enjoyment, active engagement and motivation to see which adverts are performing best. Supermarkets and department stores’ advertising may well be award-winning, but the proof in the Christmas pudding is how well they are received by their customers.
2. AI cameras to catch text-and-drive culprits
It’s long been a criminal offence to use a mobile phone while driving, but hunting down culprits has relied on police catching them in the act. However, artificial intelligence cameras have just been launched in Australia that are able to expertlydetect when drivers are texting at the wheel.
The cameras have been activated in New South Wales following a successful trial that detected over 100,000 drivers using a mobile phone illegally. NSW police claim it’s the first such AI detection system in the world — in the first three months of use, drivers will get a warning letter but after that grace period they will face a fine.
3. Google founders step back (but keep power)
The founders of Google this week announced they will be stepping down from their roles at the company that has made them billionaires. Larry Page and Sergey Brin will leave their respective roles as chief executive officer and president of Google’s parent company, Alphabet, but both will remain on the board.
Alphabet was incorporated in 2015 following a restructuring of Google, and is now the 17th largest public company in the world. Handing over the management reins to Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Page and Brin have said they are taking on the role of “proud parents” — albeit parents who retain 51% of voting rights on the board.
4. Instagram bows to age-checking pressure
Instagram has always said users should be at least 13 years old, but was criticised for never actually checking. Now the platform is making it official by requiring all new users to provide their date of birth. Users who signed up using Facebook will automatically see their accounts updated with their birthdays, but for their eyes only.
Age-checking is already common practice on rival apps like Snapchat, and now Instagram will be in line with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). A spokesperson says: “It will allow us to create age-appropriate experiences for our youngest community members, while living up to our longstanding rule to ensure people who are underage do not have access to Instagram.”
5. Robots add cafe culture to their repertoire
Multinational tech giant SoftBank this week opened a new cafe in Tokyo that is entirely staffed by robots. Having launched its Pepper bots in 2015, the firm’s new eatery will be manned by lots of the little guys, alongside two new models: Whiz, which will keep the place spotless; and Nao, which will dance for the diners.
It sounds terrifying, but Pepper has already been a hit in places such as airports and hospitals. And by providing entertainment for their visitors, the bots have been getting smarter so they can now recognise faces and emotions and respond through voice or by showing messages on their torso-based tablets. The end is nigh…
