After years of staring at our phone screens, they will soon be staring right back at us

Touch screen phones may seem like the most necessary invention since sliced bread, and our lives are about to get even easier. Samsung unveiled the new Galaxy S4 in March which demonstrated finger-free scrolling and video control.  Move your eyes down the screen as you read an article, the phone recognizes your eye movement and scrolls down for you.  Watch a YouTube video but get distracted and look away from your device? No worries, the phone will recognize that you have looked away and will pause the video until it recognizes that your eyes are back on the screen.  Battery saving is also a benefit as the screen will dim when you look away from the device. 

Like every new software, eye tracking certainly has its pros and cons.  I, for example, could see myself annoyed with the video pausing. While at times it may be beneficial to have the video pause when we avert our eyes, I would like to feel allowed to avert my eyes away from “David after Dentist” for even a brief moment if necessary without the video pausing.  When wanting to only listen to a certain song on Youtube and not watch the actual music video is another instance in which the pausing capability would not come in handy.

Google is also planning to incorporate Eye-tracking software in Google Glass.  Their latest patent will allow users to unlock using eye tracking technology. By simply moving their eyes, the users are able to unlock their Google Glass.  According to their patent, the Glass would display some sort of moving object (such as a bird flying across the screen) and then track your eye movement, if everything is correct, it would unlock your screen (Mashable).  Google Glass is a hands-free device and is the perfect case study for eye tracking software.

(Photo: http://mashable.com/2013/06/04/google-glass-eye-tracking/)

So where’s Apple in all of this?

Apple is right on track with their own eye tracking software.  AppleInsider has made note that Apple has begun patents regarding eye tracking software as early as 2008.  Apple’s most recent 2013 patent includes statements such as: 

“When the electronic device detects that the user’s gaze is no longer directed towards the device, the electronic device may enter one of the standby modes, dim the display screen that was being used for the video playback operation.If desired, the electronic device may resume video playback operation when it detects that the user has redirected their gaze towards the electronic device (e.g., towards the video screen” (Today’s iPhone).

Sounds a little too familiar? Another Samsung vs. Apple battle is most likely in our future. Time will only tell when more information about the next iPhone leaks on how Apple is putting their usual twist and improvement to existing software. Until then, I’ll continue my workout regimen of scrolling through and unlocking my iPhone manually. 

Scratch 'n' Sell

Via the fascinating Ads of the World: Nissan has created a tablet-specific advertisement that manages to stop users in their tracks (well, in their page flips). I don't want to spoil it for you, but suffice it to say that it capitalizes on the natural swiping motion used to navigate tablet apps by using it to bring viewers into the ad itself. 

Take one minute to watch it, and then scroll down. Warning: if seeing cars get scratched makes you squirm, you may wish to sit this one out.

Have you seen it? Good. 

So let's talk for a second about what I, personally, love about this ad and think makes it work so well. 

1. It manages to capitalize on an action, the finger drag, that's endemic to both the car (scratching) and the tablet (swiping). In that sense, it's almost a visual pun.
2. It's totally disruptive to the iPad experience without being annoying, largely because of the cleverness of its conceit. Was I reading The Economist? I don't even care, I am so amused by this.
3. It's incredibly simple - no fancy sounds (well, except for the scratching noise), no animations or blinking lights. Aesthetically, it's certainly a match for its media buy, and it also positions Nissan as a company that doesn't need bells and whistles - its product (like this ad) speaks for itself.

What are some of your favorite iPad advertisements? Why do you like them?

Questing Your Way to Health and Happiness

Just wanted to drop a quick post to highlight what I see as a really excellent example of gamification. SuperBetter is the first offering from the research lab of the same name, and it's a game designed to improve people's overall mental and physical health through activities that promote different types of resilience. (For more background, read this.)

Personally, I find that a lot of gamified activities aren't related to the overall behavioral issue they're trying to address, they don't provide clear incentives aside from "winning the game," and/or they require mass participation. (This is probably why I never used Foursquare.) What I love about SuperBetter is that it encourages you to do things outside of the game itself - in fact, you win by completing activities in your life that are totally outside of the game, like writing a note to a long-lost friend. And the wins don't come from the game itself, but are rather the positive consequences of completing an activity you know you should have done anyway. In other words, it doesn't reward you; it teaches you how to find rewards. (Also, it's beautiful. The experience of playing itself is very aesthetically enjoyable.)

The game has different modes for different types of health goals, and it seems particularly well-suited to  depression and anxiety, two conditions that can make even the smallest activities seem very, very daunting. Give it a shot - we'd love to hear others' experiences. (And for more background on the pros and cons of gamification, here are a few blog posts that offer a start.)

Amazon versus The Amazon in a Battle for Dot-Amazon

Watch out everyone, theres an epic battle between man and nature raging over the rights to a top-level domain name. Be careful, because this could get crazy.

It's this guy...

Apparently Amazon is trying to secure the domain title .Amazon for it's own as new top-level domain names go up for bidding. Makes sense from a marketing perspective right? Well not to Brazil aka the keeper of the Amazon Rain Forest. The country doesn't believe Jeff Bezos and his e-commerce empire should have the right to that address; that it doesn't serve the public interest. 

As a backgrounder for those of you who don't know, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers altered their rules for approved domain titles (i.e. .com, .net). ICANN made it so that all organizations public and private can bid over generic top-level domains, such as .coke or .facebook. Suffice it to say, without getting into the legal details and ghastly financial incursions these domains require, that opening up the domain world allows companies to do much more unique things with their urls. These new domains aren't very prevalent yet, but based on this Gizmodo article, it seems there are some bidding wars in the works. 

Though I find this article hilarious and that is my primary reason for posting today, I think this brings up an interesting question: do certain entities have a right to certain domain addresses and if so, what's

Versus this guy

the criteria for that right? 

Way back when I wrote a POV on ICANN and this new ruling, my understanding was that it was a game largely based on the awareness of your entity and the depth of your pockets. Small companies likely couldn't even afford to front the cash allowing the big well known corps to grab the domain. Now governments certainly can afford the fees associated with the domain, but do they, because of their landmarks and history, have any more claim than a digital behemoth like Amazon? Members of today's youngest generation probably know more about Amazon than they do about THE Amazon after all. 

I'm having a harder time than I expected taking a side. I feel like Bezos and other corporate entities have earned their claim to these types of domains, especially because so much of their businesses are centered around the web. But I can see the other side too, these natural resources are part of a larger geographic culture and, one would think that might be more important than a digital property. 

This is an interesting battle and I'll be curious to see what other versions of this pop up as time goes on. Let us know your take in the comments section below!

'Cause I'm the Taxman (but I'm actually very nice)

Millions of Americans let out a collective exhale at 12:01 this morning, with taxes finally submitted and a whole year until April 15th rolls around again. The annual ritual, with its reams of forms and arcane codes, is a source of stress for many - in fact, according to a Pew research study, 56% of Americans either "dislike" or "hate" the tax process. But taxation itself aside, does tax day have to be this way?

Yesterday's episode of the radio show Marketplace suggests that it doesn't. The show featured a Midwestern accountant, Bruce McFarland, who's made the improvement of the tax experience an integral part of his practice. In his own words:

The best part of my job is being able to show people that having your taxes prepared by a professional is not a tense thing, it's not a bad thing...It's the kind of thing that you can go and you know you're going to get treated correctly, you're going to get the most for your money and that (it's) calm.

He goes on to describe the various ways that his office experience is designed to put customers at ease: a 1960s theme that includes a VW Bus piggy bank and a Woodstock poster, his own refusal to cut his ponytail or wear a tie. And he stresses the importance of making the process itself less difficult by breaking down the components and reminding customers that, after all, taxes are "only numbers."

I'm an Experience Strategist here at RTC, so the idea of redesigning environments and processes to influence the customer experience is obviously interesting to me. But it also has real applications for a lot of different services and industries, especially those traditionally associated with stress. Chronic medical care, airline travel, sales calls: how can we change these experiences - whether through new delivery behaviors, environmental modification, or the structure of the experience itself? We've made some efforts (there's a reason that doctors' waiting rooms are painted soft colors), but there's a long way to go. And, if you're feeling energetic (we here at RTC are!), there's a lot of room for innovation.

To read more about Bruce McFarland's efforts to make tax preparation less stressful, visit his blog, Missouri Tax Guy. And for a humorous take on potential ways to reduce waiting room stress, check out this January feature from FastCoDesign.

PS: My name is Hillary, and I'm new around here. The impact of experience on behavior change is one of my favorite topics, so look for more on this in the future.