Bradshaw's Technology stories of 2010: Augmented Reality ads, Seeper, Wikileaks,

Whilst creatively its work is functional, as its advertising combines the selling of features and benefits galore, it is the simple strategy of proof that can so openly and engagingly evidence the capabilities of Apple’s latest offering. All of which makes it a compelling ‘want one’ for even the most cack-handed simpleton to enjoy. (Yes, I have one.)

Epic win! Jane McGonigal’s talk about leveraging the dedication of gamers to make a better world

In a fantastic talk given at TED in February of this year, Jane showed us how video gaming trains gamers to expect rewards that can be reached with effort. Games writers are masters at contriving challenges that are only just within our grasp, incentivising effort to realise achievements that are appreciated because they are difficult (but not impossible!) to attain. She asks how we can direct this effort in the virtual world to make positive changes to the real world. Super smart stuff. Look her up.

Seeper

An interactive arts and technology collective, using a brilliant fusion of natural user interaction, responsive environments, devices and architecture to create multi-sensory experiences. I love their work; totally engaging.

WikiLeaks

WikiLeaks. No one can have missed the impact from the international, new media, non-profit organisation that publishes submissions of private, secret, and classified media from anonymous news sources and news leaks. WikiLeaks has grown its notoriety considerably in the last four months and describes its founders as a mix of Chinese dissidents, journalists, mathematicians, and start-up company technologists from the United States, Taiwan, Europe, Australia, and South Africa. Julian Assange, Australian Internet activist and front man has received praise as well as criticism. Whilst the organization won a number of awards, including The Economist's New Media Award in 2008 and Amnesty International's UK Media Award in 2009, it has also been criticized for exposing classified information, harming national security, and compromising international diplomacy. Among negative public reactions in the United States, people have characterised the organisation as irresponsible, immoral, and illegal. Good or bad, it has been a debate which we could never have believed would have occurred 5 years ago.

Augmented Reality advertising

Whilst augmented reality remains in the 'fad' phase of advertising, there is a chance for brands to now offer real added value out of this technology. I really liked the contrasting use of AR on Papa John’s Pizza boxes last year; low value food in basic packaging takes on high tech redemption as it takes you on a road trip. And this year we are seeing this technology become more useful; Google’s android application which integrates information from the web into the real world view on your mobile screen is pretty clever stuff. The main challenge in going mainstream will be to get clients to continue to invest in it, as we learnt running our own AR retail campaigns this year with great success and lessons for all. Nevertheless, it’s definitely the way to go, as nowadays everything is becoming reality.