Google recently announced a concept that could single-handedly change all forms of advertising that currently exist, and could possibly exist in the future.
Called Project Glass, it takes your digital life, currently living in your pocket via your mobile, and puts it mere millimetres away from your eye for your every waking moment.
It’s a work in progress and probably decades away from being close to reality. I'm not aiming to explain it to you today, there's plenty of stuff out there on it already (start here if you’re not across it). I want to share my thoughts on the possibilities it introduces.
Any advertising that you see – think TV, print, outdoor, smartphone, search, display and all the new media that might be coming our way – could theoretically be replaced by this new technology, rumoured to be called Google Eye in product form. At the very least, the technology imagined by Google will seriously enhance all forms of media.
Why? Because it sits between your eyeball and every piece of visual advertising that you come into contact with.
Imagine you're wearing your Google Eye glasses while you're on your way to work and you see an ad on a roadside billboard for cheap flights to Hawaii.
Using already existing image recognition technology, Google Eye could identify the advert and serve up a message on-screen about the deal. You ask for information on available flights, it provides options that fit open weekends in your calendar with prices and you make the booking with your audio pin.
In minutes, you’ve gone from seeing the ad to making a purchase.
We can take it one step further. An opposing airline could buy that space within the Google Eye screen and serve up a cheaper deal for your consideration. You could compare deals on the spot. Even better, a competitor could potentially replace the physical billboard in your vision with its own ad.
Conceptually, it’s possible that this scenario could play out and have an impact on every piece of media we engage with by driving the development of digital versions. Will we even need real billboards when virtual ones can be tailored for an audience of one? Why read a newspaper in print when Google Eye will deliver the current headlines, videos and in-depth analysis in your glasses?
Obviously there are loads of technical challenges in making this happen as well as other, less practical considerations, like the fact that not everyone wants to wear glasses. Or that walking around, not properly watching where you are going, could be a bit of a disaster.
In addition, there are issues of content ownership and broadcast rights to tackle, but these are being faced by all digital channels at the moment anyway. It’s not time to give up on traditional media just yet but it’s worth knowing what might be around the corner.
Google has a 100 year plan to organise all the information in the universe and apparently, they’re only around 3% of the way there. Perhaps most importantly, Project Glass gives insight into Google’s future vision (sorry) and possibly, their intent to leapfrog the device and media industry completely.
As avid Google cynic John Biggs says, "Google ... can probably pull it off". The day that we wander the streets with relevant ads served directly to our eyeballs could eventuate. Who knows? Maybe Sergey. What we can count on is that the future will be moulded by the imaginations of people like him.
Simon Small
Planning and Insights Director
Visual Jazz Isobar
Have something to say on this? Share your views in the comments section below. Or if you have a news story or tip-off, drop us a line at adnews@yaffa.com.au
Sign up to the AdNews newsletter, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for breaking stories and campaigns throughout the day.