ICDC Film Course

Last week the Thoughtful Six went down to Liverpool for a week to participate in a moving image course at the International Center for Digital Content. The week involved using HD cameras, discussing film theory, and shooting our own short movies. We spent about a day going out with the cameras to shoot our footage, then moved the footage into Final Cut Pro and experimented with After Effects. At the end of the week we all produced a short film, mine is below.

Augmented Reality: Lego

Lego will apparently be rolling out these new 'Digital Box' kiosks to selected toyshops around the world that allow you to see a 3D representation of what the LEGO model looks like when fully assembled. The kiosk uses a built-in video camera and custom augmented reality software developed by a German company called Metaio, and because the model exists in 3D, you're able to interactively turn and move it around to see it from all sides.

"Augmented reality (AR) is a field of computer research which deals with the combination of real-world and computer-generated data (virtual reality), where computer graphics objects are blended into real footage in real time.

At present, most AR research is concerned with the use of live video imagery which is digitally processed and "augmented" by the addition of computer-generated graphics." (Wikipedia, March 2009).

It seems like augmented reality is the new QR code, with Mini having already launched a campaign using the concept. It's a difficult idea to get your head around, but once you grasp it you can see how far the boundaries can pushed and that it's going to be everywhere in the future.

Nice packaging by Boots the Chemist

Boots the Chemist have brought out some nice products as part of their Original Formula collection. Although these are new on the shelves, the formulas are actually part of the traditional skin care range, first produced in 1849 when Boots was first established. The exterior packaging is especially nice; clean and simplistic, reflecting on the original packaging used for these products with the traditional logo and use of block colour with black serif type. I think it is a really nice idea, bringing a bit of yester-year back to the shelves. It would be nice to see the products displayed in context, on a traditional stand, really well thought out as opposed to them just being placed on a normal shelf alongside the rest of the modern skin care ranges. The packaging works great on its own, but the idea tends to be lost in the way in which the products are displayed in stores.

I've recently been following this blog on my RSS feeder. The packaging really is lovely. Simple ideas, with fresh and clean executions, it's really nice to see. A good source for inspiration.