First let’s look at the way it used to be. You develop some rich media, let’s say a game, that you want to drive traffic to from Facebook. You would probably host that content on a Facebook tab or a micro-site. You would then post a link or an image on your Facebook timeline to drive traffic to your game.

Play AMP Agency's first Facebook Feed Game

But what if users never had to leave their Facebook timeline? What if clicking on that link in the Facebook timeline opened the rich media experience right there. You’ve been able to do this with videos for awhile but now anyone can create rich media that can be played the same way.

This functionality has been around for almost a year now however few have begun to experiment with it. The idea can be extended beyond games to create interactive surveys, custom video players, contests and more. All that’s required to get going with “Feed Gaming” is a little knowledge of how to create Facebook apps and the open graph. Unfortunately the rich media units will not work on mobile devices that don’t support flash but that just creates an opportunity to show off your HTML5 know-how to develop mobile friendly alternatives on your micro-site.

Big data, ROI, content marketing, thought leaders, low hanging fruit. In the ever-evolving world of marketing, it can be impossible to steer clear of the eye-roll inducing buzzword. Buzzwords are written or spoken words that are technical in nature and have become popular to use, therefore are used very frequently in their nascence. For many, these words are cringe-inducing, but they are important to be mindful of, as they represent evolution of thought. Like all new words, some will live for only a short while and provide little utility (remember ‘next gen?’), but others will go on to reshape an entire industry (we will never forget ‘high engagement’). Buzzwords can be used in both good and bad ways, but ultimately it is important to be mindful of their purpose and possibility.

Bad Buzzword Use

“To show our client that we are thought leaders, let’s think out of the box and bring some gamifacation into the mix by creating an immersive and edgy experience for our consumer.”

Bad buzzword use occurs when imparted simply to impress. Use in this way tends to not impress anyone at all as everyone has access to the same industry resources that spread these words. While bad use does show awareness of the field, it does not provide utility in the conversation. Conversation is meant to be a collaborative process. When it is ambiguous, it fails.

Good Buzzword Use

“Our client has expressed interest in ROI measurement. Here is an example of how I envision this coming to life and providing value to our client.”

Good buzzword use occurs when affording ground for action. When discussing ways in which a buzz worthy topic can be useful for your clients, this is good use. If something unique is contributed, such as a relevant new tactic or deliverable, it displays boldness and creativity. Being able to align and excite a team around a plan, or having actionable results around those buzzwords communicates leadership.

It is important to be cognizant of how buzzwords are being used. If bad buzzword use is taking place, consider how the conversation can be navigated to good use. Good use helps everyone involved become smarter, see opportunities before anyone else, and solve problems before they exist.

Your Point Of View The great thing about you is that you are not me. I want your fresh perspective on the topic at hand. It’s your unique voice that will keep me coming back. Continue the conversation, don’t repeat it. If you think someone did a great job covering your topic it only seems logical that you would link back to the original post. Same goes for tweets, comments and other conversations already happening elsewhere on the web. Aggregate the best of the best.Rather than writing a whole blog post about an awesome tutorial you found, why not post a collection of your favorite tutorials. At least fall back to tip #2 if you need to re-share that one awesome tutorial.

How To Properly Cite Other People’s Work

Blogs Always link back to other posts when you can. Most blogging platforms will actually detect the link and create an automatic link back from the original article. Social Media Most social media sites provide you a way to link back to the original piece of content. For comments you can usually click on the date to get a direct link to that comment. Also keep an eye out for ways to embed your social content into your sites. Twitter, for example, recommends that you use their new Embedded Tweets functionality. Images To summarize from “Copyright Fair Use and How it Works for Online Images”

… when in doubt, assume it’s subject to copyright and don’t use it without the appropriate permission …

It’s best to either use your own images or images that have a Creative Commons license. Learn more at “Using Creative Commons to Find Photos You Can Use”.

Still Not Sure?

If you are unsure or worried about breaking copyright laws, just remember these simple rules:

• If you didn’t create it you need to link back to the original source
• It’s safer to link to content than to copy it

More Info on About.com

Conclusion

In the end there isn’t too much to worry about. You will usually be contacted by the source if you end up stepping on any toes. A majority of people want you to remix and link back to their content. It’s the heart and soul of what makes the web so powerful.

Most brands have hundreds, if not thousands, of product images on their websites. And those images get reused, re-blogged, re-tweeted and re-posted by hundreds of other sites and users around the internet every day. So that’s good, right? Well, not really. While it’s great for awareness around a product, tracking those photos becomes extremely difficult, not to mention the fact that carefully crafted marketing messages that live on a brand’s site are nowhere to be found when those images find themselves elsewhere. That’s where Stipple comes in.

Stipple Allows Brands to Share Interactive Images. Image source: Stipple.com

 Tag, Share, Track, Repeat

Stipple believes they have solved that issue by allowing everyone from brands and merchants to bloggers and photographers to place interactive, trackable tags on all of their imagery. Now, when those images are pulled onto other sites (social sites included), they will be embedded with everything from videos to e-commerce tags to make purchases directly. For more on Stipple, check out the video below.

 Game Changer?

Will “smarter” photos have the ability to make imagery the future of social commerce? Is Stipple the solution that marketers have been looking for when  trying to measure the effectiveness of their content sharing? We’d love to hear your take. Sound off in the comment section below.

The 2013 PSFK Conference – New York kicked off with a captivating presentation titled “Life With Extra Senses” by contemporary artist Neil Harbisson. Neil was born colorblind and has permanently attached a cybernetic eye, an antenna so-to-speak, to his head which allows him to hear color frequencies. He explained that through technology he is not becoming more machine but moving closer to nature as he is uniquely in-tune with his surroundings.  He is like a dolphin using echo-location to better navigate or a Palaeolithic hunter-gatherer using smell to determine taste and safety. Technology is making us more intuitive, more organized, more social— more human. And, here is how:

Storytelling should exist in multiple dimensions

The easiest way to trigger multiple senses is to tell stories in multiple dimensions. And why shouldn’t we? We have successfully added a digital layer to our physical world. Food designer and writer Emilie Baltz talked about her exploration into creating and digitally chronicling meals that trigger our feelings of desire, love, and lost. Through taste and sight, we can feel emotion. Think of the last gastronomic delicacy that made you shed a tear, and I am not just talking about cheese steak spring rolls.

Neil Blumenthal, of the famed Warby Parker, attributed their success to the continuous narrative in their brand aesthetic, e-commerce platform, customer service, and now brick-and-mortar retail spaces.  Human beings are connected through storytelling. It is how we pass down our history and build community. And, the Warby Parker community is the same online as it is in person, which not only builds brand loyalty but increases brand evangelism.

Redefine “touch” points

Tied to storytelling are touchpoints, how brands interact with their customers. In an integrated-everything world, we have to re-evaluate our interactions just as we are re-evaluating silo-ed marketing campaigns. Brands aren’t just meeting people at the cashier or on the tv screen anymore. Brand interfaces are everywhere, even on your Nicki Minaj Pandora station. A panel on “How Technology is Driving Brand Innovation” featured representatives from Avery Dennison, NBC Universal, IPG Media Lab, and Waggener Edstrom and focused on the cross-hybridization of traditional and new media and the extension of the screen. Technology is so integral to our daily lives that brands need to think of themselves as a resource to everyday function. The touchpoint should become the “passion point” and aim at solving problems of the human condition.

Remember the time Apple shut down Google Maps, and we were all lost for a few months? Think that essential.

Bring everyone to the (digital) table

We are all probably believers of the “Content is King” theory. Because that content, whether enriching or mindless, is inevitably being shared. As Abigail Posner of Google pointed out, we share videos of everything from screaming goats or the latest buzzworthy commercial. Human emotion is infectious and formatting content in easily shared tidbits (Twitter, Vine, Youtube, memes, or the like) enables our innate desire to come together. And this coming together around the proverbial roundtable is easier than either. Co-working spaces like Benjamin Dyett’s “Grind” allow us to work anywhere. His talk emphasized the shift away from “corporations” to “communities”. Technology has knocked down walls and allowed us to roam free along the countryside (or the Starbucks in most cases) and explore new experiences while still connected.

We are even able to physically build communities. Through the magic of crowdfunding we can essentially lay the building blocks for entire cities. Founder & President of the Prodigy Network Rodrigo Nino discussed how the tallest building in Colombia, the BD Bacatá, was funded by 3,500 Colombians and not a single corporation or institution. For better or worse, technology is making it easier to connect to our fellow (wo)man.

Treat time like the commodity it is

But life is short, and then you die. Through all the technological advances, we still have not become the Terminator, and we will not be back (atleast not in the form we are used to). So, we should treat time like the precious commodity it is. Though we are now accustomed to everything updating in “realtime,” we have to stop and take stock in our real time. This is something creative production agency Mssng Peceseloquently displayed with their new

product, ThePresent, a clock that measures time annually and gives us a sense of the cycle of the Earth and seasons rather than the EOD deadline.

Author Douglas Rushkoff reminded us that our digital age means that we are always on-call as pointed out in his new book “Present Shock”. We are constantly in heads-down smartphone-on mode, so when we do look up, our physical experiences should be as enriched as our constant stream of digital information. Rachel Shechtman  is capitalizing on this notion of all-encompassing brand experiences that intersect retail, media, and publishing on an ever-changing (albeit monthly) basis via her concept store, “Story.”

The overarching message of PSFK 2013 was that technology is making it easier to do everything, especially be more connected to our world. How do you see technology connecting us to the world around us and making us more human? Were there any other points that struck a chord with you at the 2013 PSFK New York Conference?

Photo Source: www.latimes.com

It’s about the behavior enabled by social media and how we still have a lot to learn about being a community that lives, breathes, watches, shares and does just about everything including listening to police scanners – online.

Being a Bostonian and living through last week’s events has made me reflect on a lot. My deepest condolences go out to those who have a suffered loss or injury. And, when it hits ‘home,’ it really does. No longer are there 6 degrees of separation, everyone knows someone who has been affected.  And, throughout this experience, our city has shown an un-surmounted pride that reigned strong throughout the airwaves, digital or not. But, what’s got me is that this ‘always on’ movement of social, content and communities is bigger than any of us can even imagine – and it came to light last week.

Social Media is a Game Changer

Social media, especially Twitter, has completely changed the game. Sure, there is the issue of speed vs. accuracy in the race to ‘be the first’ to break news, but we aren’t even skimming the surface here. Friends were alerted about the marathon explosions seconds after they happened, so they could get off their bus; loved ones used social to alert others they were safe in the absence of cell coverage; and words of encouragement, pride and support were shared near and far. But, what you didn’t read in your social channels was the deep-rooted fear that existed behind each in every tweet.

We will always be #BostonStrong, but social had an adverse effect as well – building fear and anxiety as people obsessed over every detail. From fake social profiles to the real ones, to the brilliant use of social for donation solicitations, I found myself in a love/hate relationship with my social channels. Rumors spread faster than the speed of light and what made it worse was the media was now even retracting statements.

Who Controls the News?

Coverage on TV was delayed and just didn’t feel as detailed as what I was seeing on Twitter and Facebook. When you have homeowners reporting live with video, photos and tweets to update the public on what was going on in their backyards, how can you wait for a generic statement from the newscasters 10 minutes later? Gunshots vs. Flash bombs, evacuations and threats – it’s crazy that I found myself ‘trusting’ a complete stranger that others were endorsing as being the my most accurate, up-to-date source of information online.

I also have to mention the hundreds of thousands of police scanner app downloads that occurred during the course of last weeks’ events. So much sharing was happening that police asked the public to stop talking about what they were hearing in fear of jeopardizing the safety and security of their mission. It’s confusing, trivial and makes me wonder if any marketing course will ever be able to put definition behind this proliferation of sharing especially when I ‘found out’ we took the bad guy into custody at least 5 minutes before I saw it on ‘live’ TV. It’s

hard to tell if this organized chaos will help us catch the bad guys sooner or if it will lead to riots, mass hysteria and even ultimate unraveling of our society in the near future.

The Power of Real-Time Information

Real-time information sharing enabled by social media is undeniably powerful and altering the way in which we communicate. In the case of this past week, I must say it was scary, exhilarating, and powerful—all in one.  Now, all I can do is hope that by the time my daughter is my age, we’ve figured out a way to use its powers for nothing but good. Until then, put your seat belts on. The way we are living our lives is changing before our eyes and screens, as we know it.

As the baby-boomers retire and transition from parenting to grand-parenting, Generation X is poised to take over as the next generation of 21^st century, tech-happy parents. This new generation of moms was the first generation on the Internet, bought the first iPods, and now have smartphones as constant companions. They ‘pin’ family dinner ideas to their Pinterest boards and download Groupons right to their phones. Today’s young moms are not struggling to keep up with changes in technology; they are leading the charge.

A Connected Generation

The term Generation X – Gen X for short – was coined to describe the population born in the late 60’s through the early 80’s. In general, this segment of the population is tech-savvy, but it is the moms, in particular, that are the most active on social media and taking full advantage of mobile technology. According to research from BabyCenter:

• The modern mom spends twice as much time on Facebook and 60% more time on blogs than the rest of the general population.
• 80% of moms said they use social media regularly, compared to 55% of the general population.
• One mom interviewed in the study explained that “my day begins on my phone. I’ll check Twitter, see what my friends are tweeting about, then head onto Facebook.”

The stereotype of the cooped-up housewife cut off from the outside world is a thing of the past – moms today are plugged in and ready to be engaged.

Mom’s Retail Behavior

Technology not only helps mom feel more connected in the home and workplace, it also drives how she shops for herself and for her family. In the digital age,

moms are turning to technology for product information, recommendations, and special deals. According to research from BabyCenter:

• Moms are a whopping 243% more likely than the rest of the population to use social media recommendations when researching product information
• Mom’s use their mobile devices to shop 58% more than the general population too. 
• For example, 1 in 5 moms has scanned a barcode on her phone to compare prices in the last month. 
• Over half of moms also belong to a daily deal site – with an average of 9 downloads per year — and have a barcode scanner downloaded on their mobile phones.

What does this mean for marketers?

1. Given the amount of time moms spend online, they are exposed to a lot of ads. Brands need to break through the white noise and engage with customers. The bar(code) has been raised – moms want brands to interact with them online before and after purchases are made.
2.  Brands should make mom’s life easier. Deals are not an added bonus – they are an expectation. Today’s tech-savvy moms aren’t digging through the newspaper to cut out coupons, they’re buying the brands that bring the deals to them.  So get online, go mobile, and give moms what they are asking for!

Today’s moms are way ahead of the curve in adopting new technologies. The brands that reach the 21^st mom will be those that continue to evolve with her – which means staying ahead of trends in mobile and social marketing. So do you know what the next big thing is online or in the world of technology? Because chances are mom is already using it.

We are the Facebook generation—the ones who obsessively refresh our News Feeds, discreetly thumb through photo albums during morning meetings, plow through group chats, and communicate in likes, comments, shares, and statuses. We’re fueled by social, inspired by visual, and entirely transfixed by real-time, real-life, right-now communication.

Mark Zuckerberg’s recent announcement of Facebook Home—the free app for Android that transforms the mobile experience into an all-encompassing News Feed—has teenagers squealing, social enthusiasts buzzing, and marketing nerds dreaming of the exciting possibilities. Facebook Home isn’t a “Facebook Phone,” as early buzz had suggested; it’s an app that integrates with your current device to make social the key component of your day-to-day activity. So, whether you’re reading today’s headlines from the New York Times, working out with a Pandora playlist, or responding to work emails, you’ll see a constant stream of Facebook chats, statuses, photo albums, birthday messages, and more.

What’s in it for me?

Facebook Home is loaded with exciting social capabilities. Coverfeed—a mobile-friendly, highly visual iteration of the News Feed you know and love—is one click away (seriously, you don’t even have to unlock your phone). Coverfeed gives you instant access to status updates, photos, and relevant links—it allows for easy scrolling (or stalking, if that’s your thing), and it updates constantly so you’re always in the loop. For the social animal, Coverfeed is like your best friend, love-to-hate enemy, and creepy uncle rolled into one: you’ll never miss a beat—but you may be a bit too informed—and having instant, 24/7 access to Facebook may be hazardous to your health (and productivity).

Another exciting feature of Facebook Home is Chat Heads, a function that allows you to chat with friends from anywhere on your phone. No more clicking on the Facebook Chat app to load recent conversations—now, your coworker may pop up on the side of that Buzzfeed article you’re thumbing through, or your mom may check in while you’re scrolling through AMP’s blog. This may be dangerous—no more hiding in your copy of 50

Shades of Gray on the Kindle app, or taking a break to edit that big presentation for work. You’ll constantly be in the social loop.

With Chat Heads, you can receive and respond to Facebook messages anytime, anywhere

What’s in it for Marketers?

Facebook Home is the new baby of the Android world, and marketers are itching to understand what’s in it for them. Though there is no ad space on Coverfeed (yet), Zuckerberg is excited about the possibilities as he strives to make Facebook a “mobile-first company.”

More Data

Right now, we can be excited about the access to more data. With Home, Facebook has access to a wealth of information on consumers—GPS tracking, phone usage habits, text information, and more—which should be able to greatly inform mobile marketing strategies. Still in its early stages, mobile marketing has yet to truly benefit from informed, targeted ad placements.  Facebook Home should be a game-changer in this arena, and Zuckerberg could champion the effort to bring smart marketing to mobile.

More Visibility

Facebook Home will also allow brands to increase their social visibility. Home will allow for your brand’s message to reach consumers quickly, efficiently, and frequently. Engagement with fans will also be sleeker—Coverfeed places a large emphasis on the visual—so there’s an incentive for marketers to develop content that’s bright, engaging, and stimulating.

More Integration

With Home, integration is the name of the game: chats are seamlessly woven into apps, and your home screen is a constant flow of photos, updates, and messages. Bottom line: social comes first—and apps and hardware are secondary— but they all exist harmoniously in a world that’s intuitively driven by interaction. Marketers should take heed and join the conversation accordingly. When posting on behalf of your brand, don’t be spammy. Start a conversation that deserves a “like” or comment—one that creates conversation, not clutter. For brands to thrive in this mobile world, we need to adapt.

Android users can start playing with Facebook Home today. For the iPhone devotees, Zuck has said that Home should eventually make its way to Apple territory. Either way, it’s an exciting time for mobile marketing. We’re on the brink of something big.

Who Needs a Smart-Phone When You Have a Smart-Arm?

Photo Source: Humanity+

The quick cycle of awe, adoption, and finally, ubiquity of new technology has propelled the usage of Body-Product integration from a crazy concept to numerous tangible products. Companies such as MC10 and Mielke Product Design have taken this a step further, developing technologies that are literally implanted into our physical selves.

MC10’s Stamp-On Circuits and Jim Mielke’s Digital Tattoo Interface (DTI) are on the frontier of internal Body-Product integration. The DTI, which combines the “beauty of a tattoo with the convenience of a cell phone,” is a microscopically thin Bluetooth enabled device, implanted just below the skin of the forearm with a light-up screen resembling tattoo ink. It is, as the inventor Jim Mielke announced, “waterproof and powered by pizza.”

So It Turns Me Into a Robot?

The details of how it works are slightly less beautiful, once it is inserted below the skin through a small incision, it is then connected to main arteries, which convertblood glucose and oxygen into the electricity it runs on. It was ahead of its time, debuting at Greener Gadgets Design Competition 2008, but clearly failed to gain traction in time for Doomsday 2012.

The upside to this device? You may never have to search for the remote control again. The downside? You are one step closer to becoming a remote control yourself (or at least like Lepht Anonym, advocate for practical transhumanism).

The Future of Robot Humanoids, or a Giant Step for Humankind?

“We decided it was time humans stop conforming to electronics. So we’re making electronics conform to us.” –MC10 Inc., the company behind Stamp-On Circuits

While the DTI, which makes Google Glass look like a flip-phone, has yet to come into full product fruition, the recently debuted Stamp-On Circuit is reminiscent of its epidermally-integrated technology. Like a temporary tattoo, this fully functional, flexible circuit board is stuck on skin like a rubber stamp and can provide product integration that Nike+ Fuel Band could only dream of. In fact, MC10’s Stamp-On Circuit already has its first consumer product partnership with Reebok’s Checklight, which monitors brain activity to diagnose concussions during sports.

The inventor of this technology, John Rogers of University of Illinois, has an optimistic vision for the Stamp-On Circuit’s future. It has the potential to create personalized healthcare never before possible, with technology able to actively augment organ health, wrap around the heart, map brain function, or even someday prevent seizures. In his own words, it will “make humans more superhuman.”

The Future of Body-Product Integration: Implications for Marketers

While these healthcare breakthroughs lay in stark contrast to the dystopian reality some will imagine, these developments also have implications for marketers to consider. If the future of the smart phone really is on the body itself, intrusive mobile advertising becomes much more personal. It also brings to light how willing society has become to allow technology into the core of our existence.  Permission marketing becomes necessary, and brands that violate privacy and personal space will be received more negatively than ever before. However, the closeness to consumers this technology can provide may be too tempting to leave alone.

The Ultimate Opt-In

As marketers, when considering this trend in products that allow users to give up their very bodies for the promise of health, we must keep in mind that with great trust comes great responsibility. Combine these products with the new trend in UI, where devices adapt to your skill level. Imagine the possibilities—integrated machines that not only adapt their interface to your skin but understand us better than we do ourselves. These devices will be able to adapt to our needs, thoughts, and rushes of endorphins. Whether this sounds like utopia or a Brave New World, or if these products seem like a distant reality, they are closer than you think—so watch out for them.

“Within thirty years, we will have the technological means to create super-human intelligence. Shortly after, the human era will be ended.”

– Vernor Vinge, The Singularity, 1993

Photo Source: Sebastiaan ter Burg via http://www.theregister.co.uk

Come One, Come All, Into 1984

Not long ago, the idea of touch screens was brand new, hyper-futuristic, even Bradbury-esque. Its ability to be spread to the masses was somewhat doubted. Today, a simple walk down the street or a few minutes on a train will show you just how far that’s come. It didn’t take long for the technology to become mainstream, conventional, and alarmingly fast, the new normal. In our multi-screened paradigm of instant information, technology is advancing in ways that have the potential to influence the very evolution of the human species—namely, the Quantified Self.

Big Data, Meet the Quantified Self

What is the Quantified Self, exactly? It is a consequence of the capabilities of information and data tracking that modern technology has given us, except that instead of purchasing patterns, Internet usage, or even locations visited, it is data about our physical state.

The Quantified Self is the technology movement that allows us to track every possible activity and influence regarding our bodies. Quality of air and breathing, sleep cycles, mood, arousal, blood oxygen levels and blood pressure, calories consumed and burned; the list is only limited by our imaginations.

The idea is that this exhaustive level of self-tracking allows users to find the secrets to maximum productivity, health, and quality of life. Whereas in the past we trusted doctors, some of the most highly educated and honorable professionals, to monitor and evaluate this information, we are now able to take healthcare into our own hands. As sensor technology soars past the touch screen and accelerometers, our ability to understand our bodies and minds is reaching heights previously unfathomable, with the potential to make the need for doctors a thing of the past.

Examples of technology that are leveraging data to quantify ‘us’:

Mind-Reading:

Northpaw is worn around the ankle and gives a constant, gentle, motor-derived vibration on whichever side is facing north. The idea is to train one’s motor skills to have an instinctive sense of direction—a Pavlovian concept that could be controversial when applied to humans.

Zeo, which tracks the quality of sleep through a headband, gives personal advice based on findings.

Sports Related:

Armour39™, available Spring 2013, tells you how hard you worked out. The module plugs into the chest strap, stores your biometric info and syncs it with the Armour39™ App or Watch. It measures calories burned, heart rate, intensity, and WILLpower™– an algorithm that combines how long you workout, what you did, profile info like gender and weight, and key heart rate measures to give you a single score.

Garmin Forerunner 610 GPS is a heart rate monitor in watch form, which provides accurate distance, pace, GPS position, heart rate and calories burned; it can also guide you back to the starting point of your run so you’ll never get lost.

Garmin Approach S3 is a GPS-enabled golf watch packed with tens of thousands of courses worldwide, shows the true shape and layout of the green and helps users perfect their game.

Vital Sign Monitors:

Basis is a watch that captures heart rate patterns, motion, perspiration and skin temperature throughout the day and night. This highlights the trend of excessively quantifying ourselves, as well as the possibility of eliminating the necessity for doctors.

Withings is company that offers, among other products, smart blood-pressure trackers that plug into your smartphone. Again, this device leaves us one step closer to cutting out the middle man (doctors), and trusting an app to guide our understanding of health.

FitBit is a pocket device that measures steps taken, distance traveled, calories burned, activity intensity, sleep quality, and elevation

Reebok’s CheckLight monitors the brain during sports to determine the level of injury or presence of a concussion (and could also be considered mind-reading).

And last but not least:

Nike+ FuelBand tracks your daily activity including running, walking, basketball, dancing and more. It tracks each step taken and calories burned.

The Quantified Society

If every possible piece of data about our bodies has the ability to be tracked nonstop, where does this leave the need for doctors, nurses, nutritionists, sleep labs, or pharmacies? In the near future, will all of our vital signs be uploaded to a cloud hospital, whose algorithms check for abnormalities instantaneously? As marketers, this potential for enormous amounts of personal data to be collected, as well as the ability to replace healthcare professionals, implies a huge amount of trust on the part of the consumer. Just as doctors must take the Hippocratic Oath, marketers must remain ethical and honest in their usage of personal data, and keep in mind that people could be putting their lives in our hands.

Was there a Body-Product technology we missed? Tell us about it in a comment, and stay tuned for Part II, which discusses the darker side of Body-Product Integration and the Transhumanism movement.