With awareness of plastic pollution at an all-time high, Lush’s newest Naked shops offer literally hundreds of innovative and plastic packaging-free alternatives to your favourite cosmetics, and technology plays a key role in making that work.

With awareness of plastic pollution at an all-time high, Lush’s Naked shops offer hundreds of innovative and plastic packaging-free alternatives
Share on X

Rather than scanning labels for information, visitors to the shop will instead be able to scan products directly using the new #LushLabs app replacing packaging with a digital solution
Share on X

“We think the future implications of this technology are they we’re able to further reduce packaging and printed materials and offer a richer alternative that gives consumers education about the benefits of cosmetics plus features such as ordering and sharing.

It is only now, after 20 years of development, that we are able to fill up a whole shop with innovative naked cosmetic alternatives
Share on X

Lush Lens is an in development experience feature which enables Lush to reduce their impact on the environment by using the phone’s camera and Machine Learning to recognise products through the user’s smartphone camera, and give the customer detailed ingredient information and ‘how to use’ demonstrations via the app.

A while back the company opened the first such shop in Milan, which was a resounding success and convinced them there was definitely an appetite among consumers for this seemingly radical alternative to traditional, over-packaged cosmetics.

“Reducing packaging is something Lush has been working on for many, many years, says Adam Goswell Global Creative Technology, UX, Mobile & Innovation. “However, it is only now, after 20 years of development, that we are able to fill up a whole shop with innovative naked cosmetic alternatives, and offer a brand new shopping experience using technology alongside it.”

Technology has a role in reducing our environmental impact
Share on X

“The launch of the Lush Manchester Naked Shop, was an exciting day with an exciting and loud mix of our customers, staff and the press getting hands on with our packaging free shop concept.

“We’re using the shop as another platform to demonstrate and use our technology which is currently in R&D where we’re using Machine Learning coupled with a camera from a phone, to allow anyone to recognise one of our handmade cosmetics without the need for traditional packaging,” says Goswell.

Here at Tech Trends we’re fan of Lush’s brand of ethical innovation
Share on X

Here at Tech Trends we’re fan of Lush’s brand of ethical innovation that has been showcased at several events we’ve attended which spans not only its retail shops but also a its amazing spa treatments.

“Technology has a role in reducing our environmental impact, and we’d hope this influences other cosmetics retailers and other industries to look at this technology to also aid in reducing plastic waste,” Goswell concludes.

Tech Trends offers a broad range of Digital Consultancy services to guide companies, individuals and brands in effectively leveraging existing and emerging technologies in their business strategy.

Alice Bonasio is a VR and Digital Transformation Consultant and Tech Trends’ Editor in Chief. She also regularly writes for Fast Company, Ars Technica, Quartz, Wired and others. Connect with her on LinkedIn and follow @alicebonasio on Twitter.

The post Naked Tech for a Plastic-Free World appeared first on Tech Trends.

How a speech therapy app is helping children to overcome their impediments, and have fun in the process.

Speech Blubs uses technology to trigger sound and word production in toddlers, late talkers, children with Apraxia, Autism, Down Syndrome, ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) and SPD (Sensory Processing Disorder) progressively encouraging children to generate new sounds.

One in Four children will need professional help at some stage of their speech development
Share on X

One in four children need professional help at some stage of their speech development, and that number is increasing at an average rate of 10% each year, says Mitja Mavsar, Co-founder of Slovenian startup BlubBlub.

During a “pitch the media” workshop at the Pioneers conference in Vienna last May Mavsar explained to a panel of journalists – including myself – how he himself struggled with a speech impediment all the way through his childhood, which is what inspired him to found the company in 2016:

The Founder of @weareblubblub struggled with a speech impediment himself as a child
Share on X

“Therapists simply can’t keep up with this growing number of patients. In some countries, parents and their children have to wait up to 24 months for their first appointment. That’s two years, think about what that means in terms of a child’s delayed development!”

The app is based on the video modeling learning methodology and includes an assessment tool where the parent can easily test their child to see what stage they best fit in. The Snapchat-style app uses play to boost the children’s speaking skills, but the content is curated by speech therapists so the clinical outcomes are clear.

“Inspiring a child to overcome their speech disabilities begins with teaching them how to mimic the sounds of animals, machines and other objects. Using facial recognition and augmented reality technology, the child becomes what he/she is practicing, so they can role-play and have fun.”

One interesting feature of the app is that it uses videos of real kids to demonstrate the exercises. This sort of visual feedback is crucial for children when learning, specially where speech is concerned, as they’re not only listening to sounds but observing the shapes that facial muscles, lips, teeth and tongue take while producing those sounds. It also makes them feel like they are engaging in play with another child, something that Mavsar feels is somewhat missing in a world where children spend so much time interacting with their devices. It’s a sort of “if you can’t beat them, join them” approach.

Speech Blubs uses technology to trigger sound and word production and progressively encouraging children to generate new sounds
Share on X

One interesting feature of the @weareblubblub app is that it uses videos of real kids to demonstrate the exercises
Share on X

In order to smile, chew, swallow and speak properly, children need to develop all sorts of motor skills using their tongue, lips and cheeks, so the app has a “mouth gym” where practice exercises are designed to increase oral muscle awareness, coordination, strength, range of motion and endurance.

They operate a subscription model where parents pay a fee to access content, but therapists can use the Speech Blubs app in clinics and schools for free. Currently 10,000+ therapists take advantage of that, while over 100,000 individual users have been helped by their services.

Currently over 10,000 therapists are using the app
Share on X

BlubBlub’s success isn’t an anomaly though, as technology often takes on enabling or therapeutic roles in all manner of contexts. Virtual platforms such as Second Life have proven to be fantastic tools for enabling users with all manner of disabilities to interact with others, and technologies like Virtual Reality have been successfully used in the treatment of phobias.

BlubBlub’s success isn't an anomaly though, as technology often takes on enabling or therapeutic roles in all manner of contexts
Share on X

There is a growing focus amongst tech giants such as Microsoft of the need to make product design more inclusive
Share on X

There is also a growing focus amongst tech giants such as Microsoft of the need to make product design more inclusive. There is, after all, a market of around a billion people who are currently marginalized from this process, and from a business perspective (even if one is not necessarily bothered about the moral implications) that just doesn’t make any sense. And as Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella himself has pointed out, by making products which are more accessible, all users stand to benefit, not just those with a particular impediment or disability.

This article originally appeared on the Forbes website

How Tech As Therapy Can Be Big Businesshttps://t.co/8V8B8PtOuQ

— Forbes Tech News (@ForbesTech) June 22, 2018

For companies looking to get into Immersive technologies such as VR/AR/MR/XR our Virtual Reality Consultancy services offer guidance and support on how best to incorporate these into your brand strategy.

Alice Bonasio is a VR and Digital Transformation Consultant and Tech Trends’ Editor in Chief. She also regularly writes for Fast Company, Ars Technica, Quartz, Wired and others. Connect with her on LinkedIn and follow @alicebonasio on Twitter.

The post Therapeutic Tech Helping Kids Find Their Voice appeared first on Tech Trends.

This new app encourages children to connect with the natural world through an engaging digital experience.

The Natural History Museum (NHM) is the most visited natural history museum in Europe and the top science attraction in the UK; we welcome more than 4.5 million visitors a year. Now, the NHM, in partnership with Dell EMC and in association with Intel and Microsoft, launched Dippy’s Naturenauts, a progressive web app (PWA) using mobile technology to create a digital experience to encourage children to venture outdoors and interact with the natural world. This will be the first time PWA technology has been used to create this type of interactive experience for children and the Museum commissioned digital creative agency Toaster with the task of delivering it to the public.

The educational app has been created to support the Museum’s two-year, UK-wide tour of its iconic Diplodocus dinosaur cast, Dippy on Tour
Share on X

“Our goal was to create curiosity about the natural world through a digital product that mixes experimentation, learning and story-telling,” explains Jake Cooper, ECD at Toaster. “Too often technology is positioned as a reason why we are losing  touch with nature. Dippy’s tour is a great platform to help kids connect with the world around them.”

The educational app has been created to support the Museum’s two-year, UK-wide tour of its iconic Diplodocus dinosaur cast, Dippy on Tour. Dippy the Diplodocus had never been on public display outside London but has now been installed in Dorset, the first stop of a UK-wide tour which will travel to seven other partner venues, ending in Norwich in 2020. The tour aims to instil a passion for nature in children and encourage families to explore green spaces wherever they live – in countryside or urban environments.

“Dippy, the Natural History Museum’s most famous specimen, is on a mission to reconnect the next generation of scientists with the natural world around them. Toaster’s approach enables us to best leverage the digital landscape to capture the imagination of a much wider audience and offer them an immersive experience, regardless of whether they are able to see Dippy’s bones in the flesh,” says Piers Jones, Chief Product and Digital Officer at the Natural History Museum. “At a time when people are more disconnected than ever from nature, we believe finding new ways to ignite curiosity in and understanding of the natural world has never been more vital, and this progressive web app will help engage children with the nature on their doorstep and encourage them to explore, discover and want to protect the world around them.”

Children can create their own avatar to personalise the experience
Share on X

Designed for children aged four and above, characters Dippy and Fern the fox lead the user through a series of fun exploratory games created to encourage them to interact with the natural world around them

• A ‘tree safari’, in which children are able to make virtual bark rubbings from different trees by using the cameras on their phones, swiping their fingers across the screen which captures the image and allows them to add annotations and build their own digital scrapbook.
• Identifying birds by appearance and their song to provide information about birds native to different parts of the country.
• Finding things in nature utilising the devices built in camera, from the sky and rocks to feathers and flowers, that match selected shades and tones on a digital colour chart. This super-accessible activity will inspire children about the many amazing colours that exist in nature all around them.
• Identifying flowers – using scientific identification techniques the app will guide children to compare their photographs of flowers to a library in the app and set them on the path of identification.

Dippy, the Natural History Museum’s most famous specimen, is on a mission to reconnect the next generation of scientists with the natural world around them
Share on X

Children will be encouraged to create their own avatar to personalise the experience. By completing the tasks and challenges throughout the interactive adventure children and families will unlock special badges and fun facts about UK wildlife. As the tasks are completed the players will unlock new pages in a digital storybook that features their avatar and photography alongside Dippy and Fern as they explore the natural world together.

The progressive web app technology enables app-like functionality on a wide variety of devices from smart phones or tablets
Share on X

The progressive web app technology enables app-like functionality on a wide variety of devices from smart phones or tablets, through a web browser, whilst also delivering a version of the experience that works best on devices with lower functionality as well as desktop. Once the browser has loaded the content the app will be fully functional offline allowing the user to limit data usage and use the app in areas where connectivity may be low. This is achieved by the PWAs service-worker caching content, which speeds up the loading content and means the app will load faster when you revisit it.

“This app is a great example of how we can encourage engagement with nature through technology,” says Claire Vyvyan, Senior Vice President UK&I Commercial, Dell EMC. “As leaders in technology, it’s our responsibility to inspire young individuals and help them to understand the exciting opportunities that a career in STEM holds; and of course, the power of technology to drive common good and human progress. Dippy’s Naturenauts harnesses the entertainment value of mobile devices which, with the help of parents, enables children to use these devices as a gateway to the natural world.”

You can view more information and Dippy’s tour dates here

For companies looking to get into Immersive technologies such as VR/AR/MR/XR our Virtual Reality Consultancy services offer guidance and support on how best to incorporate these into your brand strategy.

Alice Bonasio is a VR and Digital Transformation Consultant and Tech Trends’ Editor in Chief. She also regularly writes for Fast Company, Ars Technica, Quartz, Wired and others. Connect with her on LinkedIn and follow @alicebonasio on Twitter.

The post Taking Dippy the Dinosaur on a Virtual Tour appeared first on Tech Trends.

Artists and galleries are embracing immersive technology to create an emotional connection to their audiences.

Art has been a relative latecomer to the digital revolution – at least where we’re referring to the traditional/classic end of the spectrum – people are used to associating the value of art to seeing it in person, hence the fact that museums and art galleries still rely on special exhibitions for a large share of their revenue. At the time of the app’s first launch ArtFinder Co-founder Chris Thorpe told the Guardian that “The emphasis on art history and institutes has taken away the visceral, emotional experience of art. That experience and excitement should make you what to know more and deepen your engagement with it.”

Art has been a relative latecomer to the digital revolution
Share on X

Artfinder built an IMDB-style searchable digital catalogue with hundreds of thousands of paintings, sculptures, and art-related media. The site also contains essays on artists, artworks and artistic movements, making it a useful (and free) reference resource for art discovery, while social open up new opportunities for enjoying art. It allows you to virtually collect and share your favourite artworks, and as users build up a profile that reflects their particular tastes, the system also generates further recommendations of artists and pieces that they might like.

Artfinder built an IMDB-style searchable digital catalogue with hundreds of thousands of paintings, sculptures, and art-related media
Share on X

Thorpe believes this element of recommendations when combined with geo-location, adds a crucial element of serendipity to art discovery and keeps that physical connection to the real world which is so crucial to connecting emotionally with a piece of artwork.

“It means that when you’re in Gateshead, the ArtFinder app can suggest that you go to the Baltic. But on a finer grain, because we know where the pictures are held, we can say the next time you’re at Moma, remember to see Starry Night by Van Gogh.”

Enhanced Experiences

For Artivive CEO Codin Popescu, however the experiential element will always be central to how people enjoy and relate to artworks. The key, he believes, is to use immersive technologies such as Augmented Reality to seamlessly add digital elements to those existing and well-loved experiences, making them richer and more accessible in the process.

They want to become the go-to solution for artists, galleries and creators and change the way art is created and consumed while building a community and movement around augmented reality art.

I met Popescu at the Pioneers conference in Vienna in May, where Artivive had won the “Best Austrian Startup” category in the event’s competition. He told me that although his company was only founded in 2017, it had already accrued over 60,000 downloads, with users spending a collective 1.3 million minutes engaging with art via the app. In the past year alone, over 2000 artists in 65 countries have used the platform, supporting over 100 exhibitions 1.5+ million scans nearly 5k original artworks.

“For an artist to create in augmented reality they previously had to build their own isolated solutions, which required technical skills and resources, but now those artists can take visitors on a journey in time and explain what lies behind, enhance the art with illustrations or show how the artworks were made. For museums, exhibitions, galleries and other art institutions it offers a new and innovative way for the audience to interact with the exhibits.”

They so far worked with many of the top museums in Vienna such as the Belvedere and MAK – The Austrian Museum of Applied Arts / Contemporary Art as well as many international venues. For the Albertina Museum in Vienna they also created digital content for the exhibition “Film Stills” and integrated AR experiences to the permanent collection “Monet to Picasso”

Artivive has worked with many of the top museums in Vienna such as the Belvedere and MAK
Share on X

One of the examples in which this has already changed the gallery-visitor’s experience is that instead of the enormous and outdated audio guides upon which galleries have traditionally relied – and which many still cling on to – visitors can now navigate multi-sensory personalized experiences on their own mobile devices.

The fact that in such a short time Artivive boosts a turnover of over €150,000 also shows the monetizing potential for the technology, as does the fact that main platforms are making deliberate moves to supporting the sector. At Google I/O this year one of the most popular demos I went to showcased how ARCore could be used to augment both 2D and 3D artworks.

Artivive has accrued over 60,000 downloads, with users spending a collective 1.3 million minutes engaging with art via the app
Share on X

Bridging the Physical and Digital

“Art is at the very top of the luxury pyramid,” says Sebastian Cwilich, co-founder of Artsy, an online platform started in 2012 for learning about and collecting art, which recently launched an AR feature that allows users to  virtually “hang” works from their nearly one million artwork database onto their own walls. In helping buyers visualize the pieces in context they are overcoming one of the key challenges of buying art online—not being able to see the work in person.

Digital natives relate differently to the art market, since technology allows you to source your materials from a practically endless database unrestricted by geographical borders.

This year’s Hiscox Online Art Trade Report revealed that online art market broaden buyer’s interest in cross-collecting, and art buyers are generally turning channel neutral, with mobile commerce gaining traction.

Blockchain-powered platform called Maecenas matches art owners with investors, increasing transparency and reducing costs. Crucially, it democratizes the process by allowing smaller investors to buy a fractional share in pieces valued at $1 million or more.

Digital natives relate differently to the art market
Share on X

Whatever combination of technologies proves most disruptive to the entrenched practices of art production and marketing, the art business needs to find ways of engaging the next generation of buyers
Share on X

Magnus, the app that bills itself as the “Shazam for art” adds to this transparency-led empowerment by letting users snap a picture of any artwork and instantly find out information such as title, artist name, price and exhibition history. Founded in April 2016 by German entrepreneur Magnus Resch and managed to attract investment from the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio, but it has also faced serious issues as many galleries accused it of essentially stealing their data under false pretenses. This protectionism and grey areas around image usage rights perhaps explains the somewhat slower progress of art-based tech in relation to other creative industries.

The bottom line is that whatever combination of technologies proves most disruptive to the entrenched practices of art production and marketing, the art business needs to find ways of engaging the next generation of buyers. And these are people who must be reached in their own turf – which is bound to be predominantly digital rather than analog.

This article was originally published on Forbes

Augmented Reality Will Reinvent How We Experience Arthttps://t.co/hoKCxQUpNw

— Forbes Tech News (@ForbesTech) June 20, 2018

For companies looking to get into Immersive technologies such as VR/AR/MR/XR our Virtual Reality Consultancy services offer guidance and support on how best to incorporate these into your brand strategy.

Alice Bonasio is a VR and Digital Transformation Consultant and Tech Trends’ Editor in Chief. She also regularly writes for Fast Company, Ars Technica, Quartz, Wired and others. Connect with her on LinkedIn and follow @alicebonasio on Twitter.

The post Experiencing Art With Augmented Reality appeared first on Tech Trends.