SXSW 2015 Trends

4. What is SXSW? Celebration of creativity & innovation across Interactive, Film & Music • 22 years of interactive • 10 days (5 Interactive) • 33,825 attendees • 1,250 talks Cannes is a celebration of the past, SXSW is a celebration of the future...

5. What was SXSW trend-wise? 2012 • Ambient location aware • Curation • Mobile 1st • Social storytelling 2013 • Big data + context • Distribution > Virality • Creative collaboration • Humanized tech 2015 • A.I. & Transhumanism • V.R. & Agile Storyworlds • Stream(ies) • Enforced Equ(al)ity 2014 • Paranoia -> Anonymity • Currency alternatives • Body/brain hacks/history • Integrated interactive intuition

9. A.I. & Transhumanism

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11. In the future, it won’t be just Pfizer that invents new things. – Joi Ito, Director of MIT Media Lab Behavior change

12. V.R. & Agile Storyworlds

13.

14. Behavior change

15. Stream(ies)

16.

17. Behavior change

18. Enforced Equ(al)ity

19.

20. Misc. Smart Objects & Environments iBeacon, SmartyPans & Luminometer Mindfulness & Simplicity Design, Data & Devices

21. What was SXSW trend-wise? 2012 • Ambient location aware • Curation • Mobile 1st • Social storytelling 2013 • Big data + context • Distribution > Virality • Creative collaboration • Humanized tech 2015 • A.I. & Transhumanism • V.R. & Agile Storyworlds • Stream(ies) • Enforced Equ(al)ity 2014 • Paranoia -> Anonymity • Currency alternatives • Body/brain hacks/history • Integrated interactive intuition

22. @withoutayard

Editor's Notes

For years film, music, interactive silo’ed – convergence is increasing Platforms overlapping overtly – digital/entertainment/social applies everywhere – evidenced by expansion into sports, gaming, fashion & EDU Big theme that works across all these streams – humanity/nature vs. tech evolution
`keep Austin weird`is still true – dedicated to protecting art, culture, indie scenes Sxsw adds 1/3 of the population to the city every year Traffic is congested, locals leave, another kind of weirdness ensues
Convergence bigger than ever – Interactive bleeding into film, sport, fashion, music Consumers don’t make the distinction – seems weird to silo Interactive as its own thing
STATISTICS FOR SXSW INTERACTIVE 2015: http://sxsw.com/sites/default/files/attachments/SXSW-2015-Statistics.pdf Interactive Festival Participants: 33,825 (from 85 foreign countries) Interactive Festival Sessions: 1,250 Interactive Festival Speakers: 2,700 Interactive Media in Attendance (approximate): 3,389 Media coverage in 2014 totaled $78.7+M 2 M @mentions w/ 2B ‘social reach’ (2014 #)
Big things we talked about in class last year Lack of trust in big institutions & developing alt-worlds/identities/monetary systems (wikileaks, assange, citizenfour premiere, bitcoin, tor, etc.) Optimism about brain/body improvements thru tech (augmented bodies, hacking organs, health/metrics) Predictive systems mirror human ‘intuition’ (systems’ shorthand, UX/design, semiotics of emojis, better understanding of how we learn/visualize; connectivity/’new standards’ for hardware/cars/devices/medical/etc. -> an arms race for system improvements) E.g. a calendar that predicts what you SHOULD do on a certain day b.o. prev. routings – save time inputting data/free to be creative (like ‘manual’ routines)
SX backlash continues for shills, hype, waste, FOMO This year – saw shift in data-focused (incl. “content” in this definition) to bio-focused (nature, real life, bodies, brains) Lame analogy to carry this through – but go with it - checks all the hype & marketing boxes: Conceptual art piece #Followmyheart – watch Shia LaBeouf’s heart beat online while he was at SX – a collabo w/artists Luke Turner & Nastja Sade Ronkko SLaB spent 6 days in a tracking device – designed to ‘bring emotion to the internet’ New emphasis on the ‘heart’ behind tech – we’re learning to bridge the two worlds physically & cognitively (even how we talk about bullying & the impact of online immersion on our reputation/behaviour is evolving)
http://follow-my-heart.net/ -> notice it encourages you to livetweet his BPM – map your effect if/when you met him, spread the word Jonah Peretti, Buzzfeed: “Never focus on clicks & views – the main metrics is SHARE” – under 3K tweets based on Sysomos scan, not a huge viral hit by any stretch (velvet underground LP trope, etc.) uses tech infrastructure from project called pplkpr – we’ll get to this next - essentially software was talked to his heart monitor tracking cardiac pulses – FMH site Artists Luke Turner & Nastja Säde Rönkkö – same as Berlinale (paper bag "I AM NOT FAMOUS ANYMORE`); #IAMSORRY performance (where he was assaulted) First met when he was accused of plagiarising Daniel Clowes w-his short film, which he admittedly did – Luke has a metamoderism manifesto about art & authorship that caused Shia to reach out Turner: "How do we approach doing something involving tech, but also creating an intimate connection across the net? The most intimate thing is your heartbeat. It literally is the rhythm of life, but [we're] broadcasting that in the most public realm while creating this intimate one-on-one relationship.“ Ran a lap of the conference room to demo that it works - usually oddly soothing. “It's very cathartic. It's an existential crisis that turned into an existential exploration that I'm benefiting from. So whether it's art or stupid, that's OK with me. As long as the benefits keep coming, I don't give a shit.“ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iz9w-5dhkOo Artists’ manifesto: When people say, “listen to your heart”, they are urging us to tune in to the loving side of our selves; the imaginative, the intuitive, the compassionate, the inner wisdom we all possess. They are telling us to listen to our passion. As we roam the SXSW festival, the data of my heart will roam the networks, transmitted live at FOLLOW-MY-HEART.NET for us to follow together in real time for the duration. With our physical distance collapsed by the networks, that innermost and most intimate of rhythms will be rendered immediate on our digital screens. Like cats have whiskers, we too are born with a guidance system: our heart. It is our inner GPS, our map, and our guide. It promises to lead us down the path of maximum fulfillment. If you #FOLLOWMYHEART, it may lead to yours. - LaBeouf, Rönkkö & Turner, 2015
Very comfy w/apps that track our sleep, steps, calorie in/out -> PPLKPR (pronounced ‘people-keeper’) tracks your friends’ affect on your body App connects w/ bluetooth heartrate monitor, measures physical response to humans - Aim: i.d. your toxic ‘friends’ Built by Carnegie Mellon artists-in-residence Lauren McCarthy & Kyle McDonald – ‘both a real app + art project.’ Free download – think about what you learn tracking emotional response to friends -> integrates w/Mio & other heartrate hardware (or NO hardware – ‘manual’ inputs after prompts can work…human error, etc.) CBT + Data + character profiling – Takes FB Friend list; Asks you to track how they make you feel when you hang out IRL. E.g. Did yoga with Brynn & she was humblebragging about her raw food diet/juice cleanse & I felt like hot garbage -> App: “Brinn makes you anxious” -> If this becomes a pattern…Let’s reconsider this friendship; E.g. Went to a show w/my ‘platonic’ friend –> App can note excitement/arousal -> Let’s reconsider this friendship (also scared, bored, etc.) - “pplkpr is based on measurements of heart rate variability, where subtle changes in heart rhythm signal changes in your emotional state. pplkpr knows when you’re having a strong emotion, and lets you decide what that emotion is.” “pplkpr can compose text messages, invite people to hang out, or block or delete their contact. These actions will appear on your home screen as they happen.” - This is messed up! That’s the point: "We were trying to take it one step far enough to make it seem outrageous. It's critical of this quantified self, big data trend that we're seeing" - McCarthy Plug Sedaris essay in NY’er Mag ‘FitBit Life’; tie back to ‘Her’ greeting card co.
Weird start w/ the heart…but not far off to track emotions, rationally evaluate body reactions -> AI & Transhumanism Been 20 years since Time’s Test Tube Baby magazine cover - & now IVF’s covered by plans -> What was freaky & taboo is totally normal for organizations/gov’ts to support. Recent MoMA exhibit – leather jackets w/grown stem cells; bioluminescence imaging “We want to have tools that touch us back” – Rohit Thawani, TBWAChiatDay re. haptic technology (kinesthetic communication - tactile feedback tech recreates sense of touch w/forces, vibrations, or motions to the user.). Touch will become as important as sight/sound in digital experiences. (pr0n pi0neers) “There were the Internet of Things & Quantified Self trends – but NOW the Internet of BODY is coming in a few years.” – Ernesto Rodriguez, Hoppe
Martine Rothblatt – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5szXt6CBDmo Author “Virtually Human” & CEO of United Therapeutics Corp (Biotech) keynote: “AI will immortalize humans via replication” Her co. is developing organs in labs for transplants & her NGO is working on ‘mind cloning’ (upload your consciousness to a ‘mind file’) to digitize our personalities/behaviours/mannerisms -> regenerated human bodies 1st sentient robot – Bina48 – based on her wife’s mind file – what rights does she have? Is she an illegal alien on earth? Slave? Will she get help from a shrink? Bina48 can have conversations, debates – NYMag interviewed her, too What if your SM feed/lifetime of digital detritus to create a cyber twin -> ethical dilemma w/’cyber consciousness’/AI What is nature/how does tech compliment it/stem cells/living-food/exoskeletons/body-augmentation Ethics w/r/t ‘hacking nature’ – 3D print an organ; replicate a brain -> innovation vs. ‘natural order’ Google’s investing in Calico – Biotech that explores reverse aging Recent Elon Musk interview via WaitButWhy: Fears that by working to bring about Superintelligent AI (ASI), we’re “summoning the demon,” …cited AI safety as one of the three things he thinks about most—the other two being sustainable energy and becoming a multi-planet species, i.e. Tesla and SpaceX. Musk is a smart motherfucker, and he knows a ton about AI, and his sincere concern about this makes me scared.
Cost of research diminishing at an insane rate -> startups + big pharma + gov + academic – not uncommon/ecosystem ‘entrepreneurship’ booming in neuro/bio spaces “street biology” Next Walter White might be cooking up stem cells instead of meth – IBM built ‘Chef Watson’ cooking machine to modify b.o. preferences Scientific research, prototyping not just for academics & R&D Depts -> saw this in Maker movement with ‘hard tech’ Screw focus groups/polling – map products, preferences to what brains/bodies signal back to systems – actual ‘physical’ data to sort
Since Lawnmower Man – fascinated with promise of VR (virtual reality). Last year Oculus Rift was the big deal & FB acquired it right after the fest (tie back to Insta) Google Cardboard, is now the favorite hardware w/brands, because it ships compact, is literally a piece of cardboard (read: brand-able). Easy for DIY types. Can use packing box & follow online instructions for folding. Entirely new business model for ‘live’ events – headsets/hardware adoption next hurdle – Google trying, naturally (ATX flyover demo) Huge opp for training, education – autistic kids w/social situations; sports drills/training exercises; insurance cos. Show distracted driving impact to teens (map back to moving beyond sight/sound + tech) UT’s Brain Performance Institute (BrainHealth) built VR-based educational programs for ppl w/ autism/Aspergers to dry-run social situations (e.g. dating, bullying, interviews). Already helped 100s of people Game is built as a 10-step program w/var. responses – Clinician/Participant meet, take photos, upload avatars. Clinician explains & then they enter together. Participant runs thru the scenario, clinician observes – They can pull the participant aside if things go wrong for coaching – then they restart. Mistakes don’t matter. “Social cognition” – brain’s hardest ‘software’ to run – requires a lot of practice Can be expanded infinitely to help: inmates before release; healthcare workers; teaching
Hardware Cos: Oculus, Samsung, Avegant & Jaunt – all at SX Jaunt*’s partnership w/NorthFace is interesting: Transports customers to Yosemite Park while shopping in retail store. Immersive Yosemite & Utah Moab desert - trek landscapes & climb w/ famous athletes. *proprietary 360 degree, stereoscopic 3D cameras and advanced 3D sound-field microphones (Chi, NYC & SF stores) Oculus partnered with Insurance Co. NRMA - one experience highlights improvements in car safety over the past twenty years. Visitors go to a ‘crashed car showroom’ & became crash test dummies: http://saferchoices.nrma.com.au/be-a-crash-test-dummy.aspx Examples - NASA had a VR demo of Mars; last month’s Tribeca Film Fest had VR installations from new media creators/filmmakers - Huge for storytelling – impact on HOW we define stories is huge…
- #AIStory – Talk by Campfire - Walked through alpha beta tests – from Paper/pre-production systems Develop prompts for AI – apps, audio recording, viz, etc – Build systems that ID patterns via prototyping When shooting w/360 cameras –possibilities for off-shoot stories (remember ‘easter eggs’?) are endless – White Rabbit, style VR will fuel a new generation of experience driven documentary video (related to the EDU opps) The ‘original’ doc viewer struggled with where they were in the narrative (esp. w/POV docs) – w/VR + 360 vid - new emphasized phenomenon of ‘presence’ - e.g. Thomas Wallner’s 360 companion to Polar Sea, explore physical landscape change caused by polar ice cap erosion The Polar Sea website http://polarsea360.arte.tv/ & Fove interactive VR Headset http://bit.ly/1NgPvhr
Next generation of selfies – not going away anytime soon – will become higher & higher % of social UGC Meerkat was the darling of the fest – Connect via Twitter & live-stream via mobile device or view/comment on another’s stream Adopted early by Kimmel – 15,000 streams in one day at SX – 200K+ tuned in Grain of salt: look at that tweet for some perspective – how many use Foursquare, GroupMe, Highlight, Banjo or Secret weekly/daily/ever?
Live layer to video & social – inevitable in many ways. Not that far off for people to ‘get’ & adopt. Brands love it KEY TAKEAWAY: Video is not new, but works. Live video and social is being redefined as we speak. Tickle-Me-Elmo of SXi15 - http://simplymeasured.com/blog/2015/03/16/91000-meerkats-how-many-popped-up-at-sxsw/ Periscope owned by TW – likely best bet in long run – maybe trying to avoid SX hype stigma/curse: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/27/technology/tech-titans-bet-that-the-world-is-ready-for-the-streaming-selfie.html?_r=0 Some merit in examining the curse of the hyped SM platform/network launch – vs – build a valuable space/product & wait for merit-based attention/loyalty to come
2007 Time Mag cover – not too far off… When does peak narcissism happen? Visual web makes sense – emojis, gifs (now embedded into photobooths), vines, vids, photos (selfiesticks), etc. – even ‘regular’ events have step & repeats, which is weird ‘reward’ system attached to this stimuli is disturbing – upvotes/shares – what is motivating the broadcast? Bigger Qs re. proprietary events – what is piracy if something is happening IRL? Do you have the right to film me?
Interesting to see #NotAllMen-style backlash during #WhoWillYouHelp – tide turning (?) 3 out of 5 keynotes – female execs; overall 42% of speakers were women Watched US CTO Megan Smith ‘mansplained’ by Google’s Eric Schmidt & Aspen Institue’s Walter Isaacson – called out by a colleague of Schmidt Women in tech no longer a ‘token’ scheduling session – Twitter, Soho House, Protein, Dazed & Confused – hosted events Genuine market-driven interest in understanding women’s consumption habits – 50% tablets; 50%+ gamers + leadership Princess Reema appeared -> Saudi women challenges; breast cancer efforts (highest cause of death for Saudi women 20-50) Call for diversity is the consequence of the democratization of digital tools -> naturally ‘catching up’ Comp Sci enrollment for women – 34% in 1985; 13% in 2015 Google investing 150M$ in diversity this year (115M$ in 2014) – actively recruiting from historically black colleges; staff can use 20% time for diversity projects; free curriculum for teachers to start comp sci clubs; “Made With Code” helps girls identify with computer programming. 2014 Google staff breakdown: 70% men worldwide; U.S. 61% white; 30% Asian. Building a ‘pipeline’ of qualified staff key to improving diversity – can’t just focus on hiring Ipsos+Dove ‘Girls Lounge’, Cosmo hosted female-centred lounges during SX - #Empower trended
790B$ - LGBT Community’s buying power in the US 3.2T$ - Racially diverse populations’ buying power in the US 1.5M ‘affluent’ multicultural households in the US
Gen Y check their phones every 5.8 mins - Checky app to keep that under control “Generation Moth” Lots of talks re. UX/Design & mindfulness/intuition/easing stress – ‘smart/conscious design’ (tie back to ambient location-aware – Swarm vs. Foursquare) Smart Objects like SmartyPans/App-connected to tell you calories/nutritional content; iBeacon in retail – map digital+store experiences; connect mobile ‘dots’ – Luminometer – germ-zap/sanitizer by 3M
Big things we talked about in class last year Lack of trust in big institutions & developing alt-worlds/identities/monetary systems (wikileaks, assange, citizenfour premiere, bitcoin, tor, etc.) Optimism about brain/body improvements thru tech (augmented bodies, hacking organs, health/metrics) Predictive systems mirror human ‘intuition’ (systems’ shorthand, UX/design, semiotics of emojis, better understanding of how we learn/visualize; connectivity/’new standards’ for hardware/cars/devices/medical/etc. -> an arms race for system improvements) E.g. a calendar that predicts what you SHOULD do on a certain day b.o. prev. routings – save time inputting data/free to be creative (like ‘manual’ routines)
- Previous years on Slideshare - www.slideshare.net/withoutayard/ - Contact via TBS

SXSW 2015 Trends

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SXSW 2015 Trends

Editor's Notes