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This week at Scribble, we thought we would try out the latest service to jump into the Cloud.  Eager to find out for ourselves, we signed up to OnLive, the first commercial ‘cloud-gaming’ service.  This new technology offers very exciting prospects, and hints at a future where mobile devices could bring the power of a high-end PC or console right into your hands.

OnLive allows users to play a range of PC and Xbox360 titles via a streaming service.  As with other cloud-based and streaming services, there are several appealing factors:  no installation or hard disk space required, there is immediate access to a wide variety of titles, and your settings and profile are stored online meaning you can connect on any computer and continue your experience.

With cloud gaming, however, there is another significant advantage:  since the graphics are rendered on the server and streamed to your PC, you don’t need powerful processor, graphics card or games console.  The only requirement is a consistent Internet connection with decent bandwidth.  Of course, this part is key.  When OnLive was announced, I was sceptical, as were many critics.  The main reason for scepticism is based on the fact that games must respond instantly to user input: can an internet connection really respond and get the rendered image back to your screen quickly enough?

OnLive recommends using a wired connection to connect to the internet, and tests your connection before letting you connect.  To my surprise, I found my modest ADSL connection yielded an enjoyable experience, even over WIFI.  Keeping an eye on the data transfer rate, around 700kbps gave a good picture quality, and even 300kbps was pretty good.  The main surprise was the responsiveness – I didn’t detect any noticeable delay except for when playing on WIFI when there would be occasional delays and drops in responsiveness.

All the games have their graphics settings cranked up to the max: at it’s best the games look stunning; when the streaming performance drops, the picture degrades in the same way that streaming video does on YouTube or iPlayer, but the framerate does not drop.  The visual performance may not be up to the standards of seasoned gamers, but I gave up trying to stay up to date with expensive graphics cards and games consoles long ago.  Even when I was a frequent PC games player, my computer was rarely powerful enough to play the latest games with the best graphics.  So in that respect, OnLive gives me better performance than I ever had.  What’s more, now having just one laptop that I use for work, I don’t feel like dedicating half of my hard disk space to the hefty 10GB+ installations that many games now require.

OnLive, then, offers a great casual gaming platform – I can quickly jump in and out of games with little hassle, and £7 a month gets you a pretty substantial bundle of games to play, with the option to buy or rent other titles.  The games library is far from comprehensive, but there are plenty of top titles to choose from, and the collection will only continue to grow.  It is a great solution for people who, like me, only use a laptop, often having lesser graphics capabilities.

The future of Cloud-Gaming?  Better internet connections will make this a viable option for more people, and the lack of need for expensive consoles or hardware make the price attractive.  OnLive will soon be joined by competitors, Microsoft to be the first, so this is unlikely to be a fad, and a bit of healthy competition is always a good thing.  Streaming games, like movies, requires a LOT of data transfer, service providers will need to start offering true cap-less internet packages if these kind of services are to become mainstream.

But overcoming some minor obstacles, who knows?  With 4G mobile networks on the horizon, maybe we could be playing top-end games on our tablets and smartphones!  A few years ago people would not have believed the capabilities of today’s mobile devices would be possible, and no one predicted the role mobile devices would come to play in our lives, so here at Scribble, we know that when it comes to mobile devices, the sky is the limit.

Many critics were disappointed at the lack of any iPhone 5 announcement from Apple, and whilst there is no flashy new design for the exterior, the iPhone 4S has a number of major new features.  One of the main features being touted was Siri, a voice-controlled software assistant.  Siri allows you to interact with your phone using just your voice.  It can set calendar events, even checking for schedule conflicts, it can check weather and stock reports and find answers to questions using the powerful computational knowledge engine Wolfram Alpha.  This seems like an impressive offering, but despite improvements in the technology, speech-recognition has not found it’s way into mainstream products so far, can Apple be the first to achieve widespread adoption?

Voice recognition is already well established.  Most people will have encountered, and probably been infuriated by, voice recognition in automated telephone support systems.  But voice recognition is also an important assistive technology.  Both Microsoft Windows and Mac OSX operating systems have extensive built in voice control and screen-reading systems to allow all functions to be automated via voice commands.

Nuance’s speech recognition software ‘Dragon Naturally Speaking’ is the main choice, and has advanced dramatically over the last decade.  Several years ago, their dictation software required a lengthy calibration session of an hour or so to allow the system to learn the user’s voice; today, you can use their free mobile app to dictate text messages and activate functions with no calibration required whatsoever.

But figuring out the actual words that have been spoken is only the first part of the challenge.  The spoken words must then be interpreted into some kind of query or command that the computer can understand and then act on.  Making sense of natural language, with all it’s ambiguities and turns of phrase, has been an incredibly difficult challenge so far.

Recently, IBM’s ‘Watson’ computer software managed to win the popular game-show ‘Jeapardy’, playing against previous show champions.  The game show was chosen because not only does it require a great breadth of knowledge, but the questions are often posed using ambiguous or cryptic language.  The Jeapardy challenge was a great PR stunt for demonstrating the software, but this marked a significant leap forward, opening the door to natural language communication with machines.

Apple has a long-standing tradition of bringing products and technologies into the mainstream and achieving widespread adoption: the iPod was by no means the first MP3 player on the market, but it’s success quickly made the label ‘iPod’ into a generic term for portable MP3 player; the iPhone was the first touch-screen only device; and the iPad still remains by far the most popular and sought-after tablet despite numerous aspiring competitors.  This is not only down to clever marketing, Apple has achieved widespread consumer adoption of their devices for their ‘it just works’ approach to ease of use.  Customers trust that not only will their products be easy to use, but they will also work well together.

So can Apple turn Siri into the first major mainstream voice-controlled application?  People will have to get used to interacting with their mobile devices in a new way, but if Apple can achieve widespread adoption through it’s products, then this will no doubt drive further innovation of the technology and will see it’s implementation in many more products and applications all around us, and we can all look forward to fascinating conversations with our washing machines and public lifts.

Augmented reality is a technology that allows information or graphics to be superimposed onto the real world in real-time, usually via a digital camera, webcam, or smartphone.  The concept has been around for years, being popularized by films like Terminator and Robocop, where we see the world through the robot’s eyes – with overlays of information appearing over people and objects in the world. Since Augmented Reality requires a mobile or wearable computer, applications have been restricted to specialized fields, such as aircraft construction or aircraft head-up-displays.  The recent rise in the computing power of mobile phones and tablet computers, however, has brought augmented reality technology into the mainstream.  The addition of accelerometers and geo-location in smartphones and tablets, too, has made augmented reality viable for mobile devices.

Here at Scribble, we have developed solutions that use augmented reality to engage audiences and link in with social networks.  The use of geo-location and 3D content is a great way to bring content out into the real world and then link back to web or social media platforms, for example virtual ‘treasure hunts’ or location based games.

Many of the current examples of 3D augmented reality involve the use of a ‘marker’ onto which 3D content is superimposed.  This is usually an easily recognizable logo or symbol in printed form.  The software searches the image to find the marker, and then calculates the orientation of the marker relative to the screen to show the 3D graphics at the appropriate angle.  Whilst this approach can be fun and engaging for promotional material, it does not really embody the spirit of the technology; holding custom markers up to a camera is not a good representation of ‘reality’.  Used cleverly, though, this kind of 2D image tracking can have very effective results, such as Intel’s recent ‘Digital Box’ augmented reality demonstration, allowing users to see what Lego products would look like when constructed simply by holding the box up to the camera.

Augmented reality technology depends on the device being able to understand the environment, and recognize and track objects.  This  is a tricky task, and one that requires heavy processing power, which is why applications so far have often resorted to tracking pre-determined markers.  New technology and increased processing power will bring new possibilities.

The limitations mean that many applications are gimmicks, and as a result only technology-savvy people really know what augmented reality is.  However, there are already some great examples of how augmented reality can help us to visualize how things will look in the real world, and these set a tantalising precedent of what possibilities lay ahead.  IBM’s ‘Virtual Mirror’ technology allows users to preview how different styles of makeup will look in real time and Silhouette’s iMirror app for iPad and iPhone allows users to virtually ‘try-on’ different kinds of eyewear . Augmented reality also offers exciting possibilities for visualizing spaces in different ways; imagine being able to preview how different brands of furniture would look in your living room – this is already possible with Bosch 3D Studio, an iPad App that allows you to design your kitchen before purchasing.

Increased processing power and improved image processing techniques will greatly improve the capabilities of augmented reality applications.  Face recognition is already built in to some PC applications, such as Apple’s iPhoto: real-time face recognition could enable all your friends to appear as life-size 3D avatars – take this a step further and we could have Kintect-style full body tracking or motion capture in handheld devices!  Big players are involved, rumours are circulating about Apple integrating augmented reality into the maps app, and Microsoft are demoing their own ‘Augmented Vision’ technology.  At Scribble, we will continue to work on exciting new applications for the technology as it evolves.  Augmented reality is yet to find the ‘killer app’ that will truly announce the arrival of this technology to the mainstream, but technological improvements and many companies investing into development mean that our worlds will soon be digitally augmented.

There are now so many different platforms that a business needs to manage in order to maximise connectivity with their audience, for example: web, TV, advertising, social media, smartphones, tablets, PC, the list goes on.  Managing the content across all of these channels is no easy task, but big brands are realising the importance of an approach that exploits the advantages of each platform.

This approach means that rather than treating each channel individually, with content mirrored across numerous platforms, a ‘big picture’ solution is created, with each platform or device playing a part.  Smartphones are increasingly used for search on-the-go, to enable people to find general or location based information, such as Subway’s use of QR codes and ‘geo-fencing’ to deliver vouchers and offers to consumers when near or close to Subway branches; whereas people will still usually prefer to make actual purchases on a computer.

The popularity of social media and mobile communications has made it more important than ever for brands to be able to react quickly, and to create a two-way relationship with their audience.  Linking to social media allows brands to manage their exposure and interact with customers, and allow customers to express and share their own views.  Big brands are taking a cross-platform approach to revolutionize customer service: ASOS, BT, Tesco and Vodaphone use Twitter and Facebook to interact with consumers, taking pressure away from notoriously irritating phone support.

But it’s not just about having the widest reach; a good cross-platform solution is about using resources efficiently.  At Scribble, we are seeing brands making the jump into the world of apps that want to streamline their approach – consolidating their content across apps, web and social media.  This means that these platforms do not need to be managed individually, saving precious time and resources.

Scribble are always looking for new ways to integrate platforms and create streamlined solutions, whether it is using new technologies or creating effective strategies for managing resources.

Last week, Brighton hosted ‘Flash on the Beach’, a conference for developers and practitioners with speakers presenting on the many applications of Adobe Flash, from art installations, to face tracking and augmented reality.  Should these people be worried that their chosen platform may be dying out?  Some Flash developers may be concerned, and many are jumping ship to HTML5 already, but the platform is far from finished.

The Internet is awash with speculation about Flash vs HTML5, and which format will dominate in the future.  The debate revolves around the issue of how rich and interactive content will be provided for web and mobile platforms.  The real battle here is not fought by the developers, who would simply choose the best available technology, but by the heavyweight brands who have the most to gain from dominance: Apple, Adobe, Google and Microsoft.

Flash video currently accounts for around 75% of all video on the web.  The main perceived threats to Flash come from the emergence of HTML5, and from Apple’s opposition to Flash.  HTML5 will allow rich media content such as video and motion graphics to be displayed in web-browsers without the need for additional plugins, such as Flash.  Apple’s decision to block Flash in the iPhone and iPad range, then, was a massive blow to Adobe.  The decision to prevent iOS users from accessing Flash content was initially claimed to because of the performance and security weaknesses of the Flash platform.  Increasingly, however, the opinion has grown that this move was simply to prevent iOS users from accessing the plethora of free video and interactive content available on the net in Flash form, forcing them instead to get the majority of rich content through Apple’s own online store, iTunes.  Whatever the motivation, Apple has influenced the push towards using HTML5 as a standard for rich content on the web and mobile devices.

Flash is much more than a media player however; it is a powerful development tool.  Flash remains a popular choice because of the ease of combining animation and graphics with interactivity, using Flash’s own programming language, ActionScript.  This allows designers to take a very visual approach to the development of games and interactive applications, further aided by the integration with other Adobe file formats such as Illustrator and Photoshop, making it a popular choice for developers of e-Learning applications and artwork-heavy games, such as ‘point-and-click’ adventures like Machinarium.

Adobe continue to try and keep Flash in the market by making it compatible with as many platforms as possible; the latest version, Flash CS5.5 can output projects as Mac ‘.app’ files, Windows Projector ‘.exe’ and even iOS compatible devices, though it remains to be seen to what extent Apple will tolerate this and allow Flash-created apps into the app store.  That said, Adobe’s resilience seems to be paying off, and Flash-developed apps are emerging in both the Mac app store and iTunes store for iPhone and iPad, such as Pixel City Skater and the iPad chart-topping Machinarium.

With Adobe so keen to keep Flash relevant, it seems unlikely that Flash as a development tool will go without a fight.  HTML5 may already be offering some of the rich and interactive media functionality that Flash provides, but it will be some time before development tools can match the workflow of Flash, which has been around as a development platform for over a decade now.  As a more open standard, HTML5 is already beginning to replace Flash as a video standard on the web, and will likely become the standard of choice for ‘lite’ interactive and animated elements on webpages.  HTML5 is unlikely to tempt developers of more serious web-based projects such as games using 3D, since it is not suited to handing large amounts of assets and complex game ‘engines’; here, Flash will retain ground alongside other development platforms such as Unity.  Apple’s approach to content on iOS devices is unlikely to change, however; they will undoubtedly seek to gain tight control over content regardless of the dominant standards in the market.

As the standards war rages on above, enthusiastic practitioners such as those seen at Flash On The Beach are testament to the fact that Flash will not be swimming with the fishes any time soon.