AKQA's Ben Jones Talks the Magic of Tech

Ben Jones, chief technology officer at AKQA, delivers the first of his new monthly insights columns for shots around the continuing convergence of technology and creativity.

In his opening piece he answers questions about what impressed through 2014, and what we can look forward to in 2015, noting that the two worlds of tech and creativity are now inseperable. He also examines the impact of near field communication, artifical intelligence and what Apple's new watch will bring to the table.

Before we touch on the year ahead, what, in the world of technology and its advertising applications, impressed you last year?

The word ‘hallelujah’ comes to mind for 2014. It’s finally sunk in that technology is the magic, while creativity is the magician, and one doesn’t happen without the other. This divide is often seen in the campaigns, products and services around us, and the disparities between them have resulted in compromise, which often makes the end result clunky. Technology should add to the experience by taking away the friction.

2014 was the year when advertising rarely sat on its own. Just look at what John Lewis did with Monty The Penguin. It was an ad and an experience, and it came with an app. Technology was once, for many, added on. Now you can see it’s more often at the heart from the start. 2014 has been the year that the product or service, driven by the unity of creative thinking and advancement in technology, started to become the advertising itself. Just look at the Nike Training Club app.

2014 seemed to be the year of Oculus Rift; do you think that the Oculus and VR technologies will continue to dominate in 2015?

VR is in its baby stage. It needs to grow, it needs to be nurtured – but if the new Oculus Rift Crescent Bay demo at this year’s CES gives a hint at what’s around the corner, 2015 will be a massive year in this area.

Last year AKQA worked on one of the most impressive tech-based campaigns with the Nike House of Mamba LED court; was that something that could only have been achieved with recent technological advances?

As with all technology, it has a limit as to what it can do. The secret is not to accept the limitation but to find ways to overcome what may seem impossible. For example, we created the real-time prediction game StarPlayer for Heineken, which meant fans could watch the football on TV while playing a point-scoring game that referred to the live action.

Back then [2011] we had the simple issue of latency on a global scale. Not being Sir Isaac Newton – or any type of god, for that matter – means you can’t really overcome latency with the current speed of data transfers. So we got around the problem exactly the way a magician does: by diverting attention. We simply used game play, blackout and brownout periods. The player didn’t know or feel any of this. It just felt real-time.

With the Nike RISE House of Mamba project [below] the technologies were there, but it was how we brought them together that was the clever part. RFID, infrared cameras, interactive LED, all played a part. But it was the way that they communicated with each other that made it slick. Then we added theatre. Anticipation. 

Advancements in technology should feel like magic. If there is a limitation, it should still feel like magic. That’s the result of cohesion and collaboration between techies and creatives. The House of Mamba nailed both.”

Those tech advances have been happening at such a ferocious pace in the last few years; can and will technology continue to evolve at the same speed?

A deep question – as the answer could be the result of the technology evolution itself. We are getting closer to artificial intelligence and this could be the key to accelerating change. Code will be able to create better code, which will be able create better, faster things. I’d personally want to move to a desert island, but the AI revolution could happen. Technology only ever gets faster. 

What technology do you see as being important or disruptive to the advertising community over the course of this year?

A year is hard to predict as it often takes time for so-called trends to take hold. If you look at the devices rapidly surrounding us, you can start to piece the future together by the opportunities they offer.

NFC, currently integrated into so many devices, is going to offer multiple routes to a brand. Location-aware experiences are finally going to deliver on the original promises of location-based services.

You really can’t leave out Apple HealthKit and Google Fit either. Both connect into the wearable world we have lived through in 2013-14, which disappointed the majority. As we harness the data collectively, the disruptive ideas start to flow. Cognitive behavioural science can be applied to creative thinking and we should start to have a lot of fun.

Intel Edison launches this year – a development platform designed for wearables and the Internet of Things built into a machine the size of an SD card. So now we can start to play with everything that moves around us – our clothes, toys or the products our clients make.

Then of course there is the Hendo Hoverboard. Surely that must be integrated into everything everyone does throughout this year? Who said you can’t predict the future? Back to the Future Part II predicted it perfectly – even the year was spot on.

How important - or more important - will smart phones become in the coming year?

Smartphones are simply phones. Let’s drop the word ‘smart’. In fact, let’s drop the word ‘phone’ while we’re at it. Phones aren’t really phones anymore. Someone needs to come up with a new name for these machines, computers, connectors to the web. They are consoles, wallets, thermometers, training companions and televisions. They are portals to the things we need. In the coming year, digital channels will go crazy. Phones (portals) are a very big part of that. Apple Watch or no Apple Watch.

Is near field communication something which could become prevalent in 2015?

NFC is becoming more integrated into everything we do. Through 2014 we saw the London Underground innovate again by allowing us to travel by the touch of our contactless payment cards. But seismic shifts require a bigger pivotal moment – something that comes along and makes the application of a specific technology obvious, and makes you question why it didn’t exist before. A moment that makes a once siloed technology accessible, elegant and human.

Enter the Apple Watch [above]. Just like the introduction of the iPhone, the Apple Watch will house technologies that have been here for many years. Apple do something unique when launching their products: the technology superbrand offers an ecosystem that technology providers, the largest brands in the world, and most importantly, the consumer, all want to be part of.

So, your prediction for the year ahead...?

I believe the one thing we will see this year is the return of emotion. Emotion has been nascent in so many digital executions purely due to the distance between the consumer and the brand and as a result of the internet – at once connecting and separating us.

But the ecosystem around us gets richer each day. Inputs like our vital signs, facial expressions, digital DNA and user-profiling will allow experiences to be tailored. Initiatives like 23andMe – the genetic kit for ancestry, which holds your actual DNA – allow the ecosystem to respond to your reactions. We will see a two-way conversation in return. One that is more measured and adaptive to who we are and how we feel than ever before.