Innovation

When I attended Picnic 09 a month ago in Amsterdam I saw some amazing demos during Picnic Labs and listened to people with amazing ideas (as often in Picnic as well as in the Next Web which is much more dedicated to Internet !). But both are based on people’s creativity !

Many of them were having links with the virtual and augmented reality, 3D, immersion, games, design, RFID, interaction, convergence…
- augmented and virtual reality (the virtual continuum of Paul Milgram)
- Machinima (movies made with 3D on real time using video games engines)
- Immersive journalism : a novel way to utilize gaming platforms and virtual environments to convey news, documentary and non-fiction stories. Those platforms might offer audiences an immersive experience that can complement and extend reporting in traditional news media
- Natal project of Microsoft Office Labs: it’s a new motion-control, you don’t need anymore a remote control to play video games (you interact with your own body). Not new but still fascinating !  and its Milo Project : a virtual-person game.
- the Emotiv EPOC™ that is a high resolution, neuro-signal acquisition and processing wireless neuroheadset
- the web of things : such as the WaNomirror of No Design which is a mirror but it is also an object that provides information and services. It is both a screen and network window that displays thoughts sent on Internet by your friends or the subjects you are interested in, from the Internet service Twitter.
- Augmented reality of a city : YDreams

and many more…

If you want to have details, have a look on the Picnic web site and links about it.  
There was also the Green Challende Postcode Lottery : some infos soon…

Another point is the creativity of the  Picnic shows and the nice and pleasant places where you can meet very easily people. You feel at ease there.

Maybe we will see some of those demos in Laval during the 12th International Conference on Virtual Reality (Laval Virtual) next April 7-11, 2010.

Succubus Interactive is a game agency specialized in video games for professionals and is based in Nantes and Lyon.
Succubus Interactive offers its services in the development of serious games, advergames, social games and casual games.

DoYouBuzz allows you to create your digital résumé like a web site. It’s the new generation of résumé. This startup is located in Nantes.

Those 2 startups will attend the Euro Tech Showcase, that is a corporate matchmaking conference focused on forging profitable links between up-and-coming European technology firms and American technology leaders. Through series of pre-arranged qualified one-on-one meetings, company presentations and demos, the Euro Tech Showcase connects fifty of the most promising private European tech companies with potential American partners, clients and investors.
It will be held in Redwood City, CA on Oct 13 and 14.

and I’m on my way to go there…

PICNIC is three inspiring days of ideas, fun and sensory stimulation in media, technology, entertainment, art and science.
It is a unique festival and an inspiring conference complimented by a set of networking events and hands-on technology experiences for top creatives and innovation professionals in business, technology, new media, entertainment, science and the arts.

It educates and connects people, industries, sectors and disciplines, and stimulates creativity, innovation, inspiration and business.

There is nothing like PICNIC  (they told) :

• Inspiring, high-level conference, world-class speakers, bringing great ideas to an international audience
• Cutting-edge technology experiences – hands on interaction and creation
• Innovative small and large group networking formats to connect partner for ideas and business
• Unique, cool, friendly, open festival environment with quirky surprises

Some themes : Augmented Reality, social networks, e-cities, electronic instruments, creativity, design, innovation, software…

The Scopitone festival, to be held in Nantes on 18 to 20 September, is organizing an afternoon of debate with the Images et Réseaux cluster on the relation between digital art, technology and enterprise.Scopitone is a festival that takes place every year, combining the digital arts with electro culture. (Scopitone web site is very nice and funny !)
This year, in conjunction with the Images et Réseaux cluster (Networks and media cluster), it is organizing a meeting of professionals known as Artcamp, exploring the relation between digital art, technology and enterprise. Artists and the cultural world have a creative eye, and question the uses and future trends brought in by the new tools and digital communication systems. Their work can stimulate innovation.

American Airlines rolled out its new Gogo Inflight Internet services.
Extracts of a chat session  in a plane at 30,000 feet somewhere between San José, CA and Dallas, TX.
- Welcome to Gogo Inflight Internet. Thank you for the opportunity to help you. My name is Alicia. How may I assist you today?
- Hello Alicia. What is the bandwidth of the Gogo network? I’m looking for bps up and down.
- Gogo In-flight Internet delivers speeds similar to a mobile broadband experience on the ground.During the most optimal settings the Gogo service runs, on average, at about 3.2mbps download and 1.7mbps upload. However I must note that the actual speeds you receive will vary based on the number of users on the flight, weather, and the aircrafts location.
- Nice. Is it a ground-based solution? Is there a router pointed down?
- Yes, the signal comes from the ground. There is a video at the Gogo website that can explain how Gogo works.
- Sweet. I will take a look.
- Do you have any more questions for me today?
- I am flying to London in a few weeks. Will Gogo work for the time I am over the US?
- Yes, Gogo will be available over the continental U.S. depending on the airline you are flying.
- Thanks. How many of American’s planes have been equipped with Gogo? I’m looking for a percentage.
- I do not know the percentage, but we are installed on 103 planes.
- What kinds of issues do you most often encounter?

- Some to the most common issues are people not being able to browse or getting an activation error, but we are able to fix both issues.

Gogo : As a service of Aircell LLC, Gogo provides all passengers access to the Internet, email, text messaging and corporate VPNs from the comfort of their seats while airborne. Aircell has been authorized by the FAA and FCC to use cellular frequencies for inflight broadband communications, leading a Wi-Fi revolution 35,000 feet above the ground. Think of it as a mobile hotspot, equipped with twin turbines and 50,000 lbs of thrust.

Yesterday evening, I had a drink and some talks with geeks, young entrepreneurs during the Open Coffee at Nantes. Open Coffee is held twice a month on Tuesday evening at Flesselles Café.

The organizers, Magali, – Atlantic 2.0 - didn’t expect so many people : some of us are not on holidays anymore !

The Atlantic 2.0 network has been created to develop exchanges, talks, meetings on the web sector, on innovation and digital creation in Nantes. By the way, I will tell you more about Web2day that was held last June in a next post.

This informal meeting was pleasant sitting outside the Café. It also was interesting to meet young people who still want to create or develop their business using web technologies. Things also happen in Nantes !
Young generation = our future !