Moving to One.

This blog has moved here.

The reasons were many and a long time coming, but mainly because :

We are all many things.
In my career, I've been a designer, illustrator, copywriter, creative director, author, strategist, brand guru, production designer, organizer, marketer, entrepreneur, serial founder, futurist and more...

We also have many thoughts.
My interests span from pop culture to geopolitics, the social media to nanotechnology, microfinance to clean energy, western literature to eastern philosophy and a host of new things I stumble upon everyday...

I needed to simplify.

So as far as blogging goes, I'm moving my three blogs to what I've really been focused on all along: Our Brighter Future

As far as my work, I still contribute to my startup projects, but my focus is solely about What's Next and how to get there.

I hope to see you soon at the new site simply called: RayPodder

Many thanks in advance for your support and attention :)

Best,
Ray

Is Blurring the Lines Key to Mainstream Adoption?

This amazing render technology obviously raises some "Uncanny Valley" questions, but maybe it also makes virtual environments a realistic option for web user who actually have a life as opposed to a "second" one. What do you think?

Digital Objects Merging with Physical Spaces?

Where's the iBuzz?

iBeer may be VirtuReal, but I refuse to be that iLame, and iDont have that kinda iTime... well, iDid have the time to post this, so iGuess that makes me enough of a iDork in any case... Enjoy :)

Are These The Building Blocks of The Holodeck?

The Cloud - from mitmobileexperiencelab on Vimeo.

MIT's mobile interactions experiments like the fibercloud here may not offer much meaning in the way we try to understand the context of emerging data in the society of the petabyte age yet, but something about the interaction is definitely reminiscent of a sci-fi scenario of years past:

VirtuReality Apps on the iPhone?

Yep. It's just the beginning :)

Pink Roads? What Next?

Heat sensitive paint as featured here can warn drivers of icy conditions. We already have data interpreters in nature such as seasonal foliage or clouds signifying rain, but from Ambientdevices to this type of thing, the opportunities to innovate the VirtuReal are exponential :)

Cyberwalkers Stepping Us Closer to VirtuReality?

The Real Matrix?

Can The Matrix experience actually become reality? Some people think so here.

VirtuReal Memory?

Move over SecondBrain, Evernote and other emerging Web 2.0 innovations in managing our virtual lives. These dorky glasses might be the start of Gordon Bell's mission applied in our VirtuReal life yet!

Ready for Mind Games?

Just the beginning...the article here.

Fictional HelpLine?

The fictional heroic character Americans would want to help them in an emergency, 2007:

MacGuyver 27%
Indiana Jones 16%
John McClane 14%
Jason Bourne 8%
James Bond 8%
Jack Bauer 7%
Larra Croft 7%

Virtureal or what?

Funky Forest

Mixed Reality UIs: VirtuReal Now!

When Past, Present and Future Meld, How Do We Connect on a Common Context?

Virtureal experiences like these are coming to your living (and work) spaces very soon. So when the idea of "when" becomes ambiguous, how do we relate to each other?

-Is nature and/or animals the "untainted" grounding factors?
-Is it communal "unplugging" at predestined time?
-Is it joining a preferred reality timeline like the way we "join" social networks now?
-Or is it a waste of time to even think about this stuff?

The last bit is probably closer, but not necessarily for what may seem obvious. When "when" is uncertain, the best navigator is clarity on "now". See a related perspective on that on my recent GROWblog post.

Are Real "or" Virtual Still Relevant?

Are virtual worlds really the future of commerce?

Are all tomorrows really visible?

Can virtual environments really heal the planet?

Can you profit from Singularity?

Will the office actually become obsolete?

While the scenaric thinking referenced above is inspiring, and at times visionary, I don't think that they are definitive. The reason is "Virtureal" as you might have guessed. More specifically, these are not Real "or" Virtual scenarios, they are BOTH. The virtual interactions not only affect our collective consciousness, but also the physical world manifestations of that consciousness.

The furniture design image from MIxko above succinctly explains it non-verbally :)

When is Now?

The Just In Time watch (above) and the Relatime watches are capitalizing on the non-linearity of time we are experiencing in VirtuReality. When we start to ask about "Relative time" over linear time, as in times we anticipate an event or plan a meeting, new opportunities to share context emerge.

We can't share meaning until we have shared context.

In the VirtuReal life, relative time might just be the most important context creator yet...

Hello PICO!

See James Patten's work on merging the virtual and real at PICO here.

How Does Sizing the Virtual Like This Affect The Way We Start to Perceive the Real?

This very cool image resizing innovation changes the way we see the world in in our virtual screen lenses.

How does this now affect the way we start to edit our everyday perception of reality?

In Vibe We Trust?

Why does the Nova light show video above change colors according to the collective mood in the room?

Why is Scoble calling Microblogging the new email?

What does beer and kitty litter have in common?

There's a reason we look for people like Scoble, Cashmore, Arrington, Malik and others to filter down the thousands pieces of info they and their staff go through to bring me what I need to know (even that's getting to be way too much now)

Two years ago, when someone I trusted recommended something worth reading or watching, I'd make time for it. Today, I prioritize based on level of relationship, agenda, and relevance to what I'm doing now.

I'm sure I'm not alone.

While services like Filtrbox attempt to lift more relevant signal from the noise, the volume of stuff created everyday (and some of it actually very good and relevant) is rising even faster.

So what is the ultimate filter factor?

The same thing we make subconscious decisions on when dealing with the other information overload we've come to accept as nature.

We operate on "Vibe" and "Feel" over fact.

Why? Because it is next to impossible to make evaluated, informed and logical decisions with such a huge volume. So how does "intuition" and "insight" translate to our VirtuReal existence?

Spatially experiencing information.

Twittering thoughts via Brain-to-Computer UIs, Mood sensing surfaces via Ambient Devices are just previews. I suspect we will rely on each other to filter their interpretation of "Vibes" relative to us.

Know What Time It Is?

Flava Flav may have accidentally tapped into the dominant emerging sentiment of VirtuReality, but for most of us it is becoming a daily reality.

WTF am I talking about?
Am I indulging in the "herbal therapy" with Flav?

Not quite.

What I am referring to is the prevalence of our experiencing non-linear time. In the original article I mention the non-linearity of Hyperlinks. Isn’t a link both the past (produced earlier) and the future (outcome dependent on your decision to click or not click) to arrive at the present?

If you look around, our lives are now measurable in the same metaphor of hyperlinks.

Asynchronous communication via email or SMS is an everyday thing. Add to that virtual tools like Photoshop, or this recent "Starring You" feature from Jib Jab to manipulate recorded digital imagery, and the concept of time, at least from a point of perception starts to bend...

When was that picture taken? Were you just there or did you "re-create" the moment? Let me send you something someone said two years ago on YouTube that's relevant to what we are doing now.... see what I mean?

Someone once said, that we are fascinated with the future because we are stuck in a linear perception of time. Living in VirtuReality, will that still hold true?

So what time is it (Really)?

VirtuReality at '07 NextFest?

The hugshirt video above is one of many emerging innovations that capitalize on VirtuReal experiences at the upcoming in Wired NextFest in LA. As more and more things transcend the blurred line between the ethereal and material, the kinds of innovations featured here represent opportunities for all of us to participate in VirtuReality sooner than we think.

Here're some highlights from last year's NextFest:

What's Charmr Got to do with VirtuReality?

Charmr is a product concept for diabetes monitoring from AdaptivePath that Mike Arrington recently blogged about over at Techcrunch. Like Ambient Devices I'd mentioned earlier, it represents the some of the best of systemic design thinking that is a key driver of VirtuReality. In this case, the "system" is the human body, but what Charmr does for diabetics, we can soon do for Brand Sentiment, User Ratings or any other information that is essential for systemic performance, regardless of the system.

The VirtuReality connection for devices like the Charmr is more straightforward than it might initially appear. As materially REAL things (like the body in this case) become VIRTUALIZED through initiatives like Google Health, our actions change based on how we interpret network "vibe" in real time. That's a huge shift, and I look forward to more design thinking along the lines of Charmr leading the way...

Olly Girls, The Parker Hotel, Dr. 90210 and More Riding the VirtuReality Wave?

Whether or not they know it, some U.S. based reality TV shows like Sunset Tan, Welcome to the Parker, Flip This House, Dr. 90210 and more are already capitalizing on our VirtuReal sensibilities.

Having real material business establishments along with their TV counterparts often puts these entrepreneurs ahead of their competition. Their perception of value (brand) is heightened with their audiences' involvement with their story lines, no matter how cheesy they may seem...

Can you think of other "Real World" businesses capitalizing on VirtuReality like them?

Where is the Next VR Melding?

My friend Jafer pointed me to VirtuReality melding in the fashion world here.

As our consciousness between the real and virtual get increasingly blurred, I suspect we'll see even more manifestations of VirtuReality in action.

-In Japan, one can sample goods to make the kinetic connections over message driven ones.

-Kidpreneurs can dabble in low risk businesses online through venues like Habbo hotel.

-Crowdsourced ideas can have more environmental impact than their company originated counterparts.

-In an earlier post comment here, Jonathan mentioned Ron Paul who is using VirtuReality to his advantage within the campaign he's running for US president...

Can you recognize other interesting opportunities to capitalize on our emerging VirtuReal consciousness?