Author: Amanda Giasson

New interactive mobile ads launched by Pandora

| June 10, 2016

Pandora has announced that it is testing out a new type of mobile advertising to better engage its users.

The streaming music platform has said that its new mobile marketing strategy is a “visual ad experience” that involves the use of interactive mobile ads that are also highly visual. According to Pandora Media, the beta version of its new mobile advertising option will feature ads from the automotive industry, including Lexus Dealer Associations, as well as ads from clothing company Express.

The company’s more than 80 million listeners will now have better control over the ads they receive.

Users of the popular streaming music platform, who already have the power to pick and choose the types of music to which they want to listen, will now also be able to have more control over the ads they receive via an intuitive swipe versus tap-to-dismiss functionality, reported The Motley Fool.

Interactive Mobile Ads - Smartphone Playing MusicInstead of the previous closable pop-up box, ads will now automatically adjust to fit the size of the phone screen and exist only within the square space that usually displays the album art.

Additionally, the new mobile ad format gives advertisers greater control as well, providing them with the ability to measure listener engagement metrics such as viewability and time spent. Advertisers also have the ability to deliver videos within a responsive display unit. These videos are muted by default when the user is listening to music, but listeners have the option of taping on the video to un-mute it and watch it in full-screen if that is their choice.

The new visual and interactive mobile ads will become available to more advertisers later in 2016.

In a recent blog post from Chris Phillips, Chief Product Officer at Pandora, the CPO said that the company is “setting out to reinvent Pandora’s mobile display ad solution to take better advantage of screen real estate, and features native to our own platform. We’ll also be emphasizing the human need for attention on an ad, which needs to take place before meaningful interaction with brand content can happen.”

The new visual ads will be made up of a series of native, mobile ad formats, according to Pandora. These formats are what help to make rich media, display ads and video more effective and impactful for marketers, the company explained.

Pandora’s full interactive mobile ads program will roll out later this year to all advertisers.

Iron Man-inspired underwater augmented reality helmet developed by the Navy

| June 7, 2016

U.S. Navy researchers have developed a new high-tech underwater helmet with AR display.

While augmented reality (AR) displays are nothing new to the military, as they’ve used these displays for decades (particularly in the form of heads-up displays (HUDs) in the cockpits of aircrafts and more recently integrated into helmets), this technology is now evolving further with the development of an underwater augmented reality helmet. The unique diver’s helmet is being developed by engineers at the US Navy’s Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City Division. It will feature a built-in HUD, which can guide divers to specific locations, help them find objects, and even provide them with vision when there is almost no visibility.

The AR helmet is being designed to increase the efficiency and safety of divers in the line of duty.

According to Tech Times, the futuristic Divers Augmented Vision Display (DAVD) helmet will help to make the work of professional divers easier and more streamlined compared to the current standard masks and neoprene gloves that are worn. The mask narrows the field of view and the gloves obstruct precision.

Underwater Augmented Reality - Image of DiverJust like the Marvel superhero Iron Man, divers will be able to view all the necessary data they need within the helmet, from checking their location to tapping into sonar data. They can keep looking straight ahead instead of having to check a smartwatch display.

Dennis Gallagher, the research team leader, said that what users of the new helmet can expect is “a capability similar to something from an Iron Man movie.”

Although still in the prototype phase, the underwater augmented reality helmet could see widespread use.

Due to the fact that underwater work typically involves poor light conditions and/or salty water, the DAVD displays can help to provide additional visual clues that could greatly assist divers, showing them the image in front of both eyes, creating visual depth. The AR display can also improve their connection to surface sources, such as a ship, which can send out information to the display.

While the device is only in its early prototype phase, future improvements made to it could lead to the inclusion of sonar sensors mounted on the helmet, which would make it even easier for information to be collected and displayed.

The Navy has said that in-water simulation testing for the underwater augmented reality helmet is slated for October.