Digital Living Gallery digitizes art for us all

Written by: Michael Keferl on January 28, 2009 at 10:28 pm | In DIGITAL LIFE | No Comments

Bandai, typically a toy and game company, is using technology to appeal to the adult market’s more sophisticated senses. The new Digital Living Gallery (shop link) forgoes the standard sleek and shiny for a traditional wood frame appropriate for paintings. What’s interesting is that Bandai is also selling content for the frame.

Starting with two artists, Renoir and van Gogh, each SD-card loaded collection comes with high quality digital renderings that can look permanent on the wall despite being easily changeable. Plus, the features go well beyond that of the originals.

TREND POTENTIAL
Digital content is manifesting itself in ways beyond audio and video. We cover this example, plus scores of related trends, in our Trendpool database designed to help businesses innovate in new ways. Get the rest of the story HERE.

Tags: Bandai, Digital Lifestyle
Category: DIGITAL LIFE
Other categories: MARKETING IDEAS, LIFESTYLE / FASHION, PRODUCT INNOVATIONS

DoCoMo Style Series phone fashion collaborations

Written by: Michael Keferl on January 7, 2009 at 11:38 am | In DIGITAL LIFE, LIFESTYLE / FASHION, MARKETING IDEAS | No Comments

It’s ended on Christmas, but as Harajuku fashion hub Laforet was celebrating a Laforet Christmas, mobile carrier NTT DoCoMo was featuring itself alongside styles and brands that compliment its handsets the best.

The promotion was quite large, lasting a month and taking up the entrance of the busy department store to visually demonstrate how DoCoMo phones can intersect directly with the needs of fashion-conscious youth.

Using twelve color variations of different Style Series handsets, twelve mannequins were fully dressed, incorporating one item from the designated brand to best accompany the gadgetry.

Part mannequin fashion show, part sales promotion, the pieces were then lined up and around the store through the staircases. They advertised both the phones and the fashions equally as compliments to each other, rather than phone as accessory to fashion or the other way around. The phone IS fashion in this case.

It’s a great promotion, but this perfectly illustrates Digital Lifestyle, and why we’ve put such a huge focus on it in our research and innovation projects within the Trendpool. Gadgets are no longer about what they can do, but what people ARE doing with them and how they intersect with our lifestyles in real ways. Surely we can’t match phones to every outfit (yet), but how can we get there? How can this ideal be achieved cross-industry, say in automotive or FMCG?

Tags: Collaborations, Digital Lifestyle, Fashion, Harajuku, Marketing, Mobile
Category: DIGITAL LIFE, LIFESTYLE / FASHION, MARKETING IDEAS
Other categories: PRODUCT INNOVATIONS

Lessev Mobile Station hides gadget cords with style

Written by: Michael Keferl on September 17, 2008 at 7:11 pm | In DIGITAL LIFE, LIFESTYLE / FASHION | 7 Comments

The most frustrating part of a gadget-filled life is keep them all charged up and ready to go. As a result, the second most frustrating part is keeping all of the cords in order! Just off the top of my head, I regularly use about four small devices (mobile phone, iPhone, iPod, PSP) that all make a big mess of cords on my desk. Organizing them with rubber bands is one thing, but having something stylish to handle it all would be ideal.

Designed by Takafumi Nemoto (pictured below), the Lessev Mobile Station makes “out of sight, out of mind” a reality.

All of the cords stay inside the container connected to a single power source, and all of your gadgets sit on top of the silicone lid which keeps the connection ends accessible without looking sloppy. This keeps your space looking happy and your gadgets protected from scratches.

It can also work with USB cables since only the box is included, so you can charge everything on your computer to save even more space during your daily (hourly?) syncs with the Mothership.

Lessev Mobile Station product page

Tags: design, Digital Lifestyle, gadgets
Category: DIGITAL LIFE, LIFESTYLE / FASHION
Other categories: MARKETING IDEAS, PRODUCT INNOVATIONS

Deli Touch automated ordering system

Written by: Rebecca Milner on February 20, 2008 at 1:11 am | In DIGITAL LIFE, LIFESTYLE / FASHION | 8 Comments

Okay, it’s not a robot waiter but Teraoka’s new Deli Touch pen allows customers to place orders without human contact. Using a menu with barcodes embedded in the photos of the items, the pen’s camera scans the codes and transmits the information via wireless to a server, which is connected to a printer in the kitchen that prints out the order. On both sides an automated voice announces that an order has been placed.

While touch screen menus have been around for awhile in Japan now, the Deli Touch pen has a few advantages, for example: the pen and menu-book style in general seems more user friendly, especially for elderly customers, and at one third the cost of implementing a touch screen order system, the Deli Touch Pen is equally appealing to restaurant owners. In fact, at only ¥45,000 for a one-month rental, which consists of 30 pens, server, and printer, the Deli Touch is considerably cheaper than an actual waiter, robot or otherwise (though maybe not as cute).

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Tags: Digital Lifestyle, Restaurants
Category: DIGITAL LIFE, LIFESTYLE / FASHION
Other categories: MARKETING IDEAS, PRODUCT INNOVATIONS

Kaiten sushi Express Lane from Kappa Sushi

Written by: Rebecca Milner on January 28, 2008 at 12:57 am | In DIGITAL LIFE | No Comments

As if kaiten (conveyor belt) sushi weren’t already entertaining enough, chain restaurant Kappa Sushi has added another layer of novelty, the sushi “Express Lane.”

While the original conveyor belt continues to carry the miscellaneous plates dished out at the whim of the chefs, this additional conveyor belt located above brings your special ordered plates directly to your spot at the counter at express speeds. Orders are placed on picture touch screens at your seat.

No more waiting anxiously to see if the yummy looking tuna will make it all the way around to your seat or be picked up by the other customers along the way! Of course, you could just make a special request to the chef in person, but where is the fun in that?

Visit our…ONLINE SHOP…Buy cool and trendy gadgets & lifestyle products straight from Japan…fast, reliable and safe…delivered right to your doorstep…

Tags: Digital Lifestyle, Dining
Category: DIGITAL LIFE
Other categories: MARKETING IDEAS, LIFESTYLE / FASHION, PRODUCT INNOVATIONS