Talking Windows - Bone Conduction

A concept that would pipe messages directly into the heads of people who try to rest or sleep against train windows.

Sky Deutschland campaign will pipe ads straight into train passengers' skulls: Sky Deutschland, the German wing of TV provider Sky, is testing a marketing concept that may be pure evil genius, or possibly just pure evil. The BBC and others report that Sky Deutschland and advertising company BBDO have tested a concept that would pipe messages directly into the heads of people who try to rest or sleep against train windows. The idea, which was first unveiled at the advertising-focused Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in late June, is known as the Talking Window. It uses bone conduction like that found in headphones, hearing aids, and Google Glass to send vibrations through a window.

When a commuter leans against the window, he or she will hear a message that nobody else can, asking if they're bored and want to download Sky's mobile app. BBDO has said that if Sky Deutschland gives final approval, "we will start with the new medium as quickly as possible," but even it seems to implicitly recognize that this is bound to irk some people. A promotional video notes that the subjects will be "tired commuters" who want to rest, and people in the ad display emotions ranging from curiosity to open annoyance.

A spokesperson also said, however, that tests in Munich and Aachen had been received well, and that there were applications besides pure advertising. It could also, he said, give people public transit updates, weather, or music, though Sky says it hasn't yet decided whether to run the ad campaign. Fortunately for this reporter and commuter, if the technology ends up in common use, BBDO says it's not planning on expanding outside Germany any time soon.

Audiva Develops Talking Window For Ad Purposes: I am quite sure that many of us are sick and tired of ads by now. Turn on the TV, and it seems that a 1 hour show is interspersed with more ads than the actual TV series itself. Your Internet experience, too, is filled with ads that pop-up blockers which used to be an option are now a necessity. Heck, just when you thought that you could get some peace and quiet all by yourself at the solitary seat in a bus by the window, along comes Audiva with their idea of a Talking Window. The Talking Window happens to be a new advertising experiment from Germany’s BBDO for pay TV company Sky Deutschland, where they will send promotional messages to commuters who happen to rest their heads on the glass of a train car. These advertisements will not disturb the rest of the other passengers’ peace, but rather, only you if you happen to rest your heads against the glass. This is made possible thanks to bone conduction technology which will stream auditory messages to you, with the help of a small transmitter box that does the streaming of high frequency vibrations onto the glass. If I were the commuter, it is time to carry a portable neck pillow so that I no longer need to lean against the window any more.

Passengers leaning their head against the window will "hear" adverts "coming from inside the user's head", urging them to download the Sky Go app.

Talking train window adverts tested by Sky Deutschland: A German firm is proposing to transmit adverts via train windows so that the sound appears to "come from inside the user's head" when passengers lean against them. The idea would use bone conduction technology, a technique that transmits sound to the inner ear by passing vibrations through the skull. The concept has been developed by ad agency BBDO Germany on behalf of broadcaster Sky Deutschland. It is already proving controversial. Comments posted under a video showing off the concept include "This is a violation to a person's right to rest" and "I think I'd take a sledgehammer to the window."

The Talking Window campaign idea was shown off at the International Festival of Creativity in Cannes last month. The video shows passengers on a German train being surprised to hear ads urging them to download the Sky Go app on to their smartphones to watch streamed video. The audio is created by a special Sky-branded transmitter made by Audiva attached to the windows. "Tired commuters often rest their heads against windows," says the ad. "Suddenly a voice inside their head is talking to them. No-one else can hear this message." Details posted online note that bone conduction technology has previously been used in hearing aids, headphones for swimmers and runners, and devices used by magicians to make someone think they have had a message planted in their head. Google also plans to use the tech in its forthcoming Glass headset.

BBDO Germany said it had had a positive response to tests using prototype transmitters placed in public transport in Munich and Aachen. "If our customer Sky Deutschland agrees, we will start with the new medium as quickly as possible," spokesman Ulf Brychcy told the BBC. "At present, this is limited to the German market. If we look into the future: everything is possible. "Some people don´t like advertising in general. But this is really a new technology. [It might] not only be used for advertising, but also for music, entertainment, mass transport information, weather reports and so on." A spokeswoman for Sky Deutschland said it had yet to make a decision on whether to run the campaign. Although the firm shares the same logo as the UK's BSkyB's satellite TV service, the two are separate companies, albeit both part-owned by News Corp. BSkyB said it had not been aware of the campaign before the BBC brought it to its attention, and was not planning to launch anything similar.

Similar glass here.

Evicting Spiders & Talking Windows

The top of the Hancock Tower is “like a haunted house,” says a facilities manager.

It’s a ‘spider fest’ atop Chicago skyscrapers: At this time of year, there’s no shortage of fake spider webs around town as people try to make their houses look haunted. But in the city’s highest reaches, there’s no need for the fake stuff. Skyscrapers are prime real estate for the creepy crawlers of the city — with the bugs often riding wind currents high into the sky.

At the top of the John Hancock Center, it’s a “spider fest,” says Mead Elliott, the building’s broadcast facilities manager. “They are crawling everywhere, they are coming down on their strings everywhere, there are a lot of dead carcasses around — it’s like a haunted house,” he said. “It’s really weird seeing so many. You scratch your head, literally and figuratively. “When I first started, there was a lot of night work and all of sudden you have three or four of them crawling in your hair. As time goes on, you become more aware of them and can brush them away.”

Elliott said workers have tried various methods to control the spiders in the past, but nothing really works — they always come back. “We often think of the top of the building as this sterile environment of steel and glass, but really it’s surrounded by insects,” said Steve Sullivan, curator of urban ecology at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum. Acting somewhat like mountains, skyscrapers can create drafts that suck air — and bugs — to the top of the structures. For spiders, that means there is plenty of food up there. “We have pumped these insects literally up the side of the building,” Sullivan said. “By this time of the year, [spiders] just build webs everywhere.”

So how do the spiders end up outside a window on the 95th floor? Sometimes they just crawl. Most spiders, though, will use a technique called ballooning, which allows them to “fly” for miles. “They let out a little bit of silk, catch an uplifting air current and then sail in the current, basically like flying a kite,” said Petra Sierwald, associate curator of insects at the Field Museum.

Many of these spiders are from the orb-weaver family, which includes a number of different species that range in size. Some young are as small as a punctuation mark while adults can grow to about an inch big. Once a spider is planted on the side of the building, its silk is so strong that it is barely affected by wind or rain — even if the little creature is hundreds of feet in the sky. “If there is any danger, there are an enormous number of crevices and cracks, and they will just go in there and squeeze in,” Sierwald said.

The Willis Tower runs a window washing system every day, weather permitting, which helps keep the spiders at bay, according to Gary Michon, general manager of U.S. Equities Asset Management, the managing agent for the property. “It’s more of a nuisance to the tenants,” Michon said of the spiders. “They are paying for great views; the last thing they want to do is look out their window and see a big web.”

Wildlife experts, however, urge people to take advantage of the opportunity to observe the spiders, which are harmless to humans. “Spiders are particularly cool because they are building architecture with one of the strongest, most resilient substances that we know of,” Sullivan said. “See how it works. It’s a cool way to get involved with nature even up on the 90th floor.”

Store windows whisper: South African teleco retailer 8ta uses 'whispering windows' with through-glass touch technology to allow customers to browse a store’s catalogue after hours. So-called whispering windows have been a growing favorite of advertisers and marketeers for a few years now, writes trend monitoring website Springwise.com. The windows are equipped with speakers and programmed to emit sounds or speech as passers by walk past the built in sensors.

Often they are designed to entice or create intrigue for those on the street, but the windows installed in South African 8ta stores are adding a new level of functionality to the technology by enabling customers to browse the store’s catalogue throughout the day and night. 8ta, a mobile brand subsidiary of South African Telkom, operates numerous stores selling the latest devices and services. Aiming to make a visit to their stores a sensory-rich experience for shoppers, the brand tapped One Digital Media for a variety of technological elements.

The stores’ whispering window technology “turns store windows into glass window speakers, creating a unique way to deliver messages throughout or around your store,” as One Digital Media explains. However, they differ from similar concepts seen recently with their innovative use of through-glass touch technology allows customers to browse through a store catalogue after hours, even requesting a callback when the store reopens.

Also included in 8ta stores are large video walls showcasing 8ta’s latest commercials and handset deals, as well as “pick ‘n watch” screens that allow customers to interact with and learn more about the different mobile phone models. Touch tables, meanwhile, are on hand to detail and compare all the handsets available. "Bricks and mortar may still play a key role in many product categories," observes Springwise.com. "But that doesn’t mean physical stores can’t borrow elements from the best of the online shopping experience - including the ability to deliver multimedia messages and product information 24-seven."