AI Feature by Magic Leap with Gesture Input & Mesh Capabilities

We like this new feature by Magic Leap that demonstrates mesh capabilities and gesture input and also uses NVIDIA imaging. This is part of their VR headset. We would love to see this in smartphones and iPads.

We’ve been intrigued for a while by Magic Leap, an AI company based in Florida that was acquired by Google. Magic Leap has demonstrated innovative artificial intelligence capabilities to audiences worldwide, including this student demonstration below.

Image via Magic Leap

You can visit their website here to learn more.

Apple and Xbox both win Cannes Lions Experience Awards

Both Apple and Microsoft nabbed top honors and best in class innovative awards for Brand Experience and Activation, a new category at Cannes Lions. Apple won the Big Lion for "Today at Apple" program that is bringing education experiences to Apple's 500 stores, and teaching Apple consumers how to use products.

Apple won a Grand Prix award in Entertainment Lions for Music for "Welcome Home," the stunning HomePod spot featuring singer FKA Twigs, directed by Spike Jones and created by TBWA\Media Arts Lab. The short film is very complex to shoot, but presented in a visually stunning way with the singer just saying one word to the HomePod and transforming her whole world.

As Angela Ahrendts, Apple's senior VP for retail, spoke in a Cannes talk prior to the award ceremony.

“[Today at Apple] can have a big impact on the role these stores play in the community. It has to serve a bigger service than just selling.”

— Angela Arendt, VP of Apple Retail

Experiential design is essential for commerce today when you can buy and order practically anything online. To go into a store physically, then demands an 'experience' and one that complements what consumers are looking for naturally and provides ways to learn and grow is exciting. Understanding the customer journey is vital to brand engagement and business success. Angela Ahrendt has previously revitalized the British iconic brand Burberry, bringing in technology and heralding a new wave of popularity among young consumers.

“Apple for decades was known as somebody who makes magical products. Now I feel they’re making magical experiences, and important experiences.”

— Rob Reilly, McCann

At a time when retail is dying, Apple is reinventing the store experience and making it meaningful and enjoyable for customers.

Nick Law, chief creative officer of Publicis Groupe Global, served as jury president of Creative E-Commerce this year. 

“This is the engine of our industry. It’s also a battleground for the new economy. If people don’t figure out their strategy for e-commerce, they won’t have a brand or business.”

— Nick Law, Publicis

Xbox Design Lab's "Fanchise Model" Campaign with McCann

Xbox Design Lab came up with a fun way to encourage gamers to create their own unique  controllers by rewarding them with perks. These fan-created designs are rewarded based on the sales of their controllers, and are featured in Xbox marketing campaigns worldwide. Gamers are invited to create and claim their unique popular designs. 

Cannes Lions is running now through June 22, 2018.

Amazon Adopts AR Kit in its latest iOS Shopping App Just Before Black Friday

With Virtual Product Previews, Amazon's shopping app gives customers the ability to see how products look inside their home using AR technology.  

Amazon employs Apple's AR Kit in its latest iOS app to let you view thousands of products in your home, before you buy them. Just in time for the start of the holiday season, the updated app uses augmented reality (AR) kit technology to help customers make better shopping decisions based on aesthetics and fit within their existing living spaces.

After opening the app, you click on the camera icon and choose AR view. Then you can select from thousands of items for your living room, bedroom, kitchen and home office. This ranges from electronics to kitchen appliances, home decor, toys, furniture and more. A nice feature of the app is the ability to move items around and get a full 360-degree view, which can help you finalize your purchase decisions so that you are choosing the best products for your personal aesthetics. Using the new app's AR Kit technology (version 9.21.2) requires iOS 11 and is compatible with the iPhone 6S or newer models.

Image via Amazon

AR Kit offers tremendous opportunities for showcasing products and building spaces and environments. This ability to recognize objects and showcase them virtually in context, is helpful in a variety of industries, ranging from retail to architecture and construction, landscaping, aviation and the automotive industry.

AR Kit can determine surfaces that any object is placed on and track the movement of the camera in relationship to its surroundings, using the rear camera feed and Core Motion data. In addition, AR Kit can also figure out the right lighting for virtual objects placed into a scene.