Amnesia Connect wins Silver ADMA award

Amnesia was awarded a silver last week at the ADMA awards for Amnesia Connect in the Apps and New Development category.

 

The finalists are below and well done to TBWA for Gold on Pedigree in the same category.

Big effort from Iain, Heiko, Stephan and Dan for the work.

If you have not seen connect before you may well of been hiding under a rock so here it is in action.

Great result and hopefully next year we win gold.

@maniac13

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Emerging tech expert in Mumpreneur shocker!

Not content with showing off Amnesia Connect to nearly half a million people online, our lovely Stephan Lange has been caught sharing his passion with Australia’s growing army of ‘Mumpreneurs’. And yes, that is a word.

Check out Stephan’s article in full.

[Thanks to @eunmac for the tip].

@bdecastella

Amnesia Razorfish Announces Gesture Sharing for Smartphones and Tablets using Microsoft Surface (Press Release)

Amnesia Razorfish today announced the launch of Amnesia Connect – a software breakthrough, which allows instant and seamless sharing and transfer of any content such as photos, music or embedded apps between multiple handheld devices using a Microsoft Surface table using a single gesture.

Launched today, Amnesia Razorfish Connect can be viewed at: http://vimeo.com/18859503 and there is more information on the software at: www.amnesiarazorfish.com.au/

Amnesia Razorfish Connect has been developed entirely in-house at Amnesia Razorfish by the creative and emerging technology teams.

Following months of research and development, Amnesia Razorfish has replaced the typical ‘send and receive’ interface with a more natural ‘gesture-based’ interface. A smartphone owner can now move their content freely between two devices by simply dragging content off their phone onto a Microsoft Surface Table and back onto another device instantly.

Amnesia Razorfish Founder and Executive Creative Director Iain McDonald said: “The previous barriers which stood in the way of getting content on or off your phone have been completely removed with this software.

“In the past device integration like this has been mainly confined to Hollywood movies or smoke and mirror demos, so we set ourselves the challenge of making it real.

“It took a while to crack, but the result speaks for itself – all the buttons are gone and sharing content is now completely instinctive. In a world where smartphones are becoming omnipresent, this kind of software opens another world of ideas for brands.”

Amnesia Connect allows gesture transfer of mobile content instantly

The smartphone user can transfer new free or commercial content from the table by dragging it directly to their phone with a single swipe – then before full transfer takes place, a preview instantly visible as a live motion tracked ‘lens preview’ through the phone display – similar to an X-ray through to the table.

For example, in less than a few seconds a photo can be taken on one device and dragged effortlessly onto the Surface table and then directly onto another device running on Amnesia Connect software.

“The new software promises a range of new possibilities for the retail and hospitality industries in particular. In the near future we envisage a Smartphone user being to complete commercial transactions for both physical and digital content,” McDonald said.

Amnesia Connect in action

The Amnesia Connect software works with all Apple IOS devices and is being further developed to work seamlessly with Android, Windows Phone and BlackBerry Smartphones.

Amnesia Razorfish Connect utilises a range of technologies including Wi-Fi, proximity detection, unique ID and phone accelerometer, depending on the type of phone and location.

For in-store transactions, NFC (Near-Field-Communications) has been proposed as one of several possibilities for payment transactions, although a pre-authenticated user account with credit card details could also be used.

Amnesia Connect has also been developed to work with the new Microsoft Surface 2.0 table, that was announced at the 2011 International Consumer Electronics Show.

Amnesia Razorfish Managing Director Michael Buckley said that Amnesia Connect is available immediately for the agency’s clients to utilise in projects and added existing clients that had seen the application were ‘very excited’.

Follow @amnesiafish on Twitter.
PS: Ask questions in the comments below – we will do our best to answer them!

Alan Wake – The Project

Here’s a little something we worked on recently for Xbox Australia that was pretty fun. We kidnapped a bunch of Xbox gamers, stuck some probes on them and then left them alone in various locations at the Quarantine Station at Sydney’s North Head. Oh, yeah, they got to play Alan Wake before anyone else in the country.

Interesting to see how the body responds to intense situations in games. Alan Wake has its share of them too. I’ve had a go myself and I’m in no hurry to go wandering in the woods at night any time soon.

Check the site out at http://www.xbox.com.au/theproject/

There’s some more videos you can check out and a bunch of pics on Flickr.

Jobs: Creative genius required

We’re after a creative to come up with brilliant digital ideas.

Refreshingly Fun: What we’ve been doing with Pepsi

You’ve probably seen the billboards and bus ads by now, but in case you weren’t aware, we recently launched the digital side of Pepsi’s new Hit Refresh campaign. MTV are pushing it on television, we’re running it here on the ‘net.

It’s pretty cool, a mash-up of Pepsi re-inventing their image and placing a huge focus on digital marketing the combination of which turned into a Twitter based scavenger hunt, with the prizes coming in the form of cold hard cash. Well, not cash so much as 101 slick little EFTPOS cards loaded up with $250 each.

A brief run down: the refreshment company activation team (known as Pepsi Refreshers) make their way out into the world, choose an obscure location in a well populated Australian city, and then start tweeting out clues about where they are from the Pepsi Australia Twitter page. We’ve rigged it so that game playing, money lusting, Pepsi fans can also catch these updates on the Facebook Page, or at the Hit Refresh site, in order to more effectively race each other to the prize.

This is excellent because the entire thing can essentially be run from a smartphone, an easy thing for a Pepsi Refresher to have on them at all times. Plus, the players themselves aren’t tied into any particular service in order to keep up with the clues. It’s infectious, interactive, and incredibly efficient – social media at its best, really.

Creative mastermind Toby Caves really took advantage of the fact that APIs and widgets basically rule the internet now, and the main campaign site grew into a deliciously crafted overview of everything that’s happened, and is happening in the competition at any given time.

The latest clues are fed in from the Twitter page, Facebook fans are prominently displayed, a schedule and Google powered map let people know which cities the Refreshers are going to pop up in next and the Winners Gallery shows off all those lucky sods with their fancy new free money cards. It’s all ruled over by an explanatory Flash header, and coated in a vibrant blue that only exists between shades of Pepsi and Twitter.

Speaking of those cards, we feel like they’re a bit of a win. Based on the global Refresh campaign posters and candy colour palette, they are a bit more recognisable and fun than straight up cash in your hand while still being just as usable.

Stamped with the new Pepsi globe logo, we’ve also slapped some helpful thematic suggestions for spending the well won dollars. Things like style, scene, and so on – after all, if you win a prize you shouldn’t be using it to pay your bills (unless you really need to, then it’s ok). As a general rule though, prizes are fun, should be used for fun, should be spent on your self, and we wanted to encourage that.

We wanted the prize cards to be like the campaign, simple, effective, fun and it feels like we nailed it.

No, it’s not modest or polite to rave on about oneself, but this is a pretty exciting project for us, and the response so far has been amazing, so we thought we’d throw out a few more details and see what you all think.

Check out the campaign, hit us up in the comments and let us know.

The 2009 Croissant Games

On October 14th 2009, Razorfish formally joined the Publicis family. As Razorfish offices all around the globe celebrated with a glass of Bollinger and a boursin cracker, the Aussies did something a little different.

Ladies and Gentleman, Mesdames et Messieurs I give you The 2009 Croissant Games.

 
And some pics from the day here

@handypearce

Amnesia Razorfish is Hiring

We’ve told you we’re growing yes, and now we have a short description of all the roles we have on offer!
Take a gander at all the roles below and don’t be afraid to pass them on if you know some awesome people who might be right for us.

The positions we are currently recruiting for are:

Group Account Director

Coming on board as our new GAD (Client Services), your core focus is to manage our awesome Account Directors and Account Managers who are responsible for deliverables across all accounts. Having 8-10 years experience in marketing and client management under your belt, we can rely on you to keep clients close and generate revenue so that we can continue hiring.

Senior Account Manager

We’re looking for some strong Senior Account Managers to join our Client Services team. Help Amnesia Razorfish grow and develop solid relationships with clients and manage day-to-day account service.

say it with me: Razorfunfish!

So, our fearless leader Iain is across the pond right now, stirring up trouble at the Razorfish Client Summit in Las Vegas. While we were sleeping, he challenged the world to another Google battle (remember Velociroflcoptersaurus?) and this time, I’ve decided I’ll actuall DO something about it. This time, it’s a battle for the word Razorfunfish. Here’s a little stop-motion we threw together this afternoon:Vodpod videos no longer available.

razorfunfish! [razorfish client summit 2009] from heather ann snodgrass on Vimeo.

It was really fun! Looking forward to doing more of these in my spare time…

Razorfish TweetDoubler – Amazing Twitter tool that allows twice the character count

We’re pretty excited here in Australia to be the first people globally to talk about a new text compression technology just released by Razorfish, one of the worlds largest digital agencies. The Razorfish guys in white coats have developed a compression algorithm that works on text, a bit like the way jpeg compresses an image – which means HUGE news for everyone using Twitter.

Try it now! www.tweetdoubler.com

Twitter normally only allows 140 characters. This Razorfish web application allows you type DOUBLE the normal amount.

You simply enter the text (up to 280 characters) – the compression takes about half a second, next your compressed tweet is sent out (under 140 chars) and then automatically decompressed as the end user views the message. It’s so simple, it’s hard to believe nobody has done this before.

We believe that in the future we can optimise the algorithm, potentially allowing 1000 characters to be compressed to inside Twitter’s limits of 140 characters. This first round of beta testing will provide us with enough data to push limits in the future.

Razorfish Credits:
Thanks to the globally coordinated team who have worked around the clock to bring this to life. Make sure you say Hi to them on Twitter:

Olaf Prilo (@olafprilo) – Independent Science and Maths Consultant.
Iain McDonald (@eunmac) – Creative Director.
Stephan Lange (@Maniac13) – Project Co-ordination.
Chris Saunders (@thesaund) – Lead Coder.
Michael Kliennman – Lead Design.
Shiv Singh – (@shivsingh) Social Media Director.
David Deal (@davidjdeal) – Marketing Director.

Please note this is a beta version open for testing for today only. Enjoy & have a wonderful day 😉

Lynx Effect Website Archive – Webby Award Winner

http://lynxeffect.archive.amnesia.com.au/

Original Lynx Effect website (which won a Webby in 2008 created by Amnesia Razorfish) is now in it’s archived glory state in our portfolio. Clean the “Dirty Girls”, tattoo your name on some unmentionable body part – the list goes on.

Amnesia Razorfish – the rebrand

Yes, digital agency Amnesia has changed it’s name – from something unforgettable, to something unpronounceable. (It’s fun – say it three times really fast). For those who don’t know our history, digital agency Amnesia (Sydney) was acquired two years ago by Avenue A Razorfish who were themselves acquired by Microsoft in 2007.

The short is – they’re a great brand, and we also like ours …so the result is:
 
 

It looks kind of good on our Microsoft Surface Table (which gets more attention than everything else in here of course).

Blog Action Day 2008: Amnesia, Google, Yahoo & World Vision Team Up Against Global Poverty

Blog Action Day 2008, Oct.15, is a chance for the digital community to unite against global poverty by creating loud messages of hope, outrage and solutions to this difficult global problem.

To inspire bloggers across the nation to participate, World Vision Australia is running a contest (here) to see who can write, draw, record and share the most compelling message about global poverty.

With the help of Amnesia, Yahoo!7 and Google, the grand prize winners of the WVA contest will be flown to Sydney for an exclusive digital training day with each of the above. It even includes an hour of time getting hands on with one of the only Microsoft Surface tables in Australia here at Amnesia.

So don’t be a passive observer. 
1. GET INVOLVED  with Blog Action Day and REGISTER (HERE)
2. Submit your link in the comments of the page above (HERE)

http://learnaboutpoverty.org/2008/10/09/blog-action-day-competition/

Amnesia and The Lynx Effect featured in Australian Web Designer Magazine

Pick up the latest issue (#4) from your local news agent and relive the wonder that is…

The Lynx Effect.

Or, just go straight to the source: www.lynxeffect.com.au

SMH Online coverage of Surface

Spot the cameos from Amnesia employees in this report from SMH online about Microsoft Surface.

The report shows a few of the table’s demo apps, including our own business card reader application. All our new business cards have a Surface-readable tag on them that our application has been coded to respond to and display our flickr feeds, tweets and latest blog posts.

We had a great time presenting the table with Microsoft at Web Directions South and we look forward to showing it off more in the future!

Human Breakout / Arkanoid at conference

Again from the Avenue A Razorfish conference/client summit 2008 here is a section of the 1000 attendees playing the arcade game breakout using their arms to co-ordinate the paddle to bounce the ball at the bricks. Controlled by a standard web camera, it’s pretty funny to watch but a great example of extending ‘group experiences’ using digital technology.

Again this video was shot with mobile phone.

Microsoft Surface Hands On Demo Video Review

We just returned from the Avenue A Razorfish 2008 client summit. Here’s a couple of quick videos (taken with mobile phone) demonstrating Microsoft Surface.

First Clip: Bidding on the guitar signed by Sir George Martin (of Beatles fame). The way this worked – you placed your attendance card onto the table – up comes your details then you are able to bid on the guitar by dragging your card onto it.

Second clip: Demo of me using my attendance card and entering the draw for an Xbox 360.

Amnesia staff rip studio to bits

 
We’re remodelling the studio. As usual the staff do it all themselves. Not sure what these two are up to but the wall was completely gone this morning…

Amnesia Open Studio 2008 – 2 & 3 April

Are you a digital design student or just starting your career?

Amnesia – AdNews Interactive Agency of the Year for 2006 and 2007 – is committed to helping young designers and students get the best possible start in their career and is hosting two evenings of seminars and dialogue this April in conjunction with Semi-Permanent.

PLEASE NOTE NEW START TIME: 6.30pm 

Our program is open to all design students and young designers and is focused on giving practical advice on a variety of topics through short seminars and one-on-one sessions with our Senior Designers and Art Directors.

The evening runs over two nights and includes:

Brainstorming seminar
Tips and tricks on how to generate ideas and think outside the box

Getting your career started
Practical advice on how to break into the world of design

Designing and developing with Flash
The dark art of Flash explained

The future of digital
The end of the world is nigh, digital is just beginning

Portfolio review
We’ve seen a lot and can help you tweak yours

Creative surgery
Designer’s block? Get some advice from our Art Directors

And best of all, it’s totally free, no strings attached!

Space is very limited and it’s first come best dressed, so register immediately to avoid disappointment.

REGISTER ONLINE at www.amnesia.com.au/openstudio

Learn more about Amnesia on our website and our blog

Test Your Senses – Viral Screamer

Classic from the Vault http://testyoursenses.archive.amnesia.com.au/ we’ve just put this site back up for a bit of fun. There are plenty of screamers around these days (eg: scary maze). But we were quite happy with the ridiculous premise of a full senses test, something different. Stupid – but many people still fell for it at the time 🙂

So turn up your volume, sit in a dark room and TEST YOUR SENSES!!!

If anyone (evil enough) wants to film their friend being sucked in – please post video links here. We would love to see them 🙂