ASP Labs is Opening Eyes with Glass & Rift

aspLabs isopening eyeswith Glass & RiftEventTechBrief.com

ASP (Event Tech Brief's technology partner) has anotherdivision called ASP Labs. They use it to experiment with non-conventional technologies that may impact the exhibitionindustry and nudge organizers into thinking moreexpansively.

For the past two or three months, Nolan O’Connor, ASP’sChief Marketing Officer, has been meeting with trade showorganizers to share ideas and collect feedback on GoogleGlass and Oculus Rift. “We’re not developing apps for Glass orOculus, but trying to understand how wearable technologywill impact events and websites,” he says.

They’ve discovered there’s a lot ofmisunderstanding out there.

Glass has receivedcondemnation. There is even a“Glasshole” movementunderway. The criticism comesfrom the idea that users invadethe privacy of others—takingunauthorized video andpictures. Some in the exhibitionindustry believe that it’s justanother way to surf websitesand fear having to use a smallscreen.

"The whole point of Glassis to really add value to

the surroundingenvironment."

That's not how any of this works

Nolan O'Connor, ASP

Glass is enhancing a numberof processes: Using Glass in afulfillment warehouse (thinkAmazon) to pick the correctproducts off of shelves,scanning airline passengers'boarding passes to learn theirmeal and beveragepreferences, or watching abaseball game and reviewingthe batter’s average as hesteps up to the plate.

How Glass works in the “outside” world

Within the event industry,O’Connor imagines how Glasscould work, such as watchinga new airplane model takeflight at the Farnborough AirShow and using Glass toreview the history of theaircraft and productionstatistics as it flies overhead.Fashion show buyers could useGlass to learn more about thedesigner, outfit, and costwithout detracting from theexperience of the catwalk.

Putting Glass to work in an exhibition

Glass can be the window through which a virtual buyer couldattend a trade show, O’Connor says. “A person might say to acolleague, ‘I just don’t have time to leave the office, but you’regoing. Can you stop by the booth and relay what’s there?’”

Redefining there and where

In another scenario, a live attendee can be in one location at avery large conference, but view the streams from othersessions elsewhere to decide whether it’s worth going to theother venues.

Redefining there and where

Oculus Rift is a more difficult pill for exhibition organizers toswallow...

Rift represents a line of practicality that is a little moredifficult to cross. Because the technology requires that anapparatus be strapped to the user’s head (or, O’Connor says,viewed on a mobile app using 3D-printed eyeglasses), it’simpractical from the outset. Plus, he admits, “You wouldn’twant to go through the same effort of finding products [in atrade show] that you would playing a video game.”

Exploring the rift over Rift

Nevertheless, there are two other possible use cases:

Exploring the rift over Rift

Marketing the event experience.

O’Connor imagines that a Rift video—say of a fighter pilot in thecockpit of a new military aircraft—sent via email to potentialattendees of the Farnborough Air Show with the caption, “Wouldyou like to see what the pilot sees before you come to the show?”might generate considerable interest.

Extending the event experience.Rift could help attendees relive or recall something theyexperienced during the live event. O’Connor shows clients acrowdsurfing video from a concert to demonstrate the point, buthe believes there are other possibilities. Some events, such asamusement park trade shows or the Comic Cons that are sopopular now, are ripe for experimentation with Rift.

ASP’s interest in both Google’s Glass and Facebook’s OculusRift is in how they can enhance existing event objectives.While the potential for Glass as a conduit betweenregistration and the event website is apparent, O’Connorexplains,

After all, augmented reality and virtual reality have come andgone in the industry over the years and mobile apps—notwearables—are the current center of the exhibition universe.

Exploring the rift over Rift

Oculus Rift applications will require some more research.

Exploring the rift over Rift

Still, ASP Labs’ intentions are pure. “We’re trying tounderstand the challenges that organizers have and trying toopen up their minds to technology in general. They often getpinned to the same day in and day out ways of doing things.We’d like them to think about putting a little bit of fun backinto the event experience,” O’Connor says.

Presentation Brought to you ByEventTechBrief.com

Read the full article:http://bit.ly/WjxXOq

Subscribe to the newsletter today!