In Japan the Loch Ness monster has been brought to life with the help of water and holographic effects. This has been realized for Sony as promotion for the film The Water Horse. The monster regularly comes to life giving passers by the fright of their lives.

Future vision by Erwin van Lun

We see that holograms are being used more often. Fashion shows and presentations are given in holographic style and even live shows from dead artists are realized. Holograms will be used more and more frequently in shop windows or, for example, as company receptionists. These holograms will be able to enter into interactive dialogue with the consumer.

House specialist Immospy, known in the Netherlands as miljoenhuizen.nl, is now available in English, German, French, Spanish and Italian. By focusing on Europe (instead of individual countries) almost 4 million houses for sale are made available.

Future vision by Erwin van Lun

Europe is increasingly being treated as one market. Soon we will be able to arrange mortgages over international borders (why should the provider have to come from our own country?), choose Europe wide internet providers, Europe wide insurance companies and internationally operating home coaching brands. These stand by to help us enjoy living, wherever we are in the world. This is a step in that direction.

Via a widget, a tiny piece of software, the Rijksmuseum places a new art object on the sites of its users each day: every day a new art object, on users websites, on their profiles on social networking sites, or (as we have done here) on a their blogs. At the moment of posting there was an image of a painting of a man with angels wings, tomorrow there will be something else.

Future vision by Erwin van Lun

In this way brands are able to provide inspiration every single day. In this case the theme is art, but it can of course be applied to any theme - style, health, sport, holidays, or relationships to name but a few. Paper daily calendars with a theme have been around for a long time and fulfill a daily ritual. Widgets can replace this and over time, by becoming more personal, will be more inspiring than ever before.

The VideoMiner of Observision is helping the Dutch police to detect noticeable behavior of criminals automatically. Falling under this behavior are the counting of vehicles, suspicious behavior near ATM-machines or parking lots or anti-social driving behavior.

Future vision by Erwin van Lun

Everything we do in the physical world will soon be recorded and shared, just like our behavior is shared with the people around us. Soon not only the behavior will be recognized, but also the person in question: who is this? What history does this person have? Then a criminal will immediately receive an (automated) phone call from the police. If no good explanation can be given we’ll immediately get to speak to a police officer or a car will be dispatched. Down the line, robots will be found here too, but then we’re a bit further along. However much this may sound like BigBrother this technology will all be used to aid our lives. Likewise a coaching brand will be able to follow us and come to our aid if we’re stuck: ‘Everything all right?’, ‘Should I tell you about?..’, ‘Did you know that your twice-removed uncle of 92 lives around here?’
But only those brands we’ve given permission to break in like that are allowed to do so. Of course. Because it has to stay fun.

Twelve supermarkets will be using Vision Tracking technology from May. The consumer will wear a pair of glasses with a built in camera which registers everything that is looked at and the reaction it produces. The information gathered is to be coupled with the turn over figures.

Future vision by Erwin van Lun

Now the information is coupled to the turn over figures, but within a few years the local supermarket will know exactly what we look at, how we look at it, how we react to various stimuli and the effect that all this has on their turn over. Now glasses with a built in camera are used, but soon it will be done via micro cameras and screens in our shopping trolleys. The perfect personalized route through the store and tailored sales advice will be shown in real time on the screen. Online and off-line environments will adapt increasingly to the consumer, based on the items that we are focusing on at any given moment our every whim will be served.

Rabobank's brand agent Yvette (Dutch) can now also be found at the virtual bank branch in the girly game GoSupermodel. The first day that the virtual bank branch was open she received 1.545 mails and 8.342 chat sessions were started with her. The branch itself was visited 14.453 times.

Future vision by Erwin van Lun

Brands are representing themselves through brand agents more and more often, we see them all over the place. An important part of this is that we will be recognised everywhere. Just like we recognise real people that we know from work and chance across, for example, in the supermarket. The context is different, but the dialogue carries on.

Playboy has created a version of Playboy.com for the iPhone, iPlayboy contains, amongst other things, Playboy radio, videos, tips for going out and of course the Playboy photos. Have you always wanted to know the difference between a Bunny, a Playmate and a Centerfold? The website offers an ‘Ask Hef' function that will give you the answer to this and much more. The site was launched with the choosing of ‘Miss Mobile Playboy'.

Future vision by Erwin van Lun

Brands are moving to interactive communication via electronic media. First via the PC, now through your mobile, soon via the navigation system and eventually via TV and radio. Everything will become fully interactive. The power of the mobile in this is its direct link with payments, you are already recognised, you can already call. The mechanism that will ensure that certain content can be paid for via the mobile (which we will also use to view it). Sexually tinted contact is yet again the driving force for new technology. Playboy has taken a step in that direction.

Via Amazon TextBuy the buying hungry consumer can directly order whatever catches their eye in a shop, on the street or in a bar. Users send a text message with the name, description, barcode or ISBN number of the product. If Amazon is selling similar items then you will be sent a message with the results. The consumer can immediately buy one of the products or ask for a wider selection of products.

Future vision by Erwin van Lun

The mobile phone is becoming a screen over the physical world. At the moment we still need to send a text message but soon the product will be automatically recognised (via barcode, built in chips or just by its form) and the maker will provide specific information straight away. If we want to make further comparisons we will consult one of our coaching brands, which will advise us like a friend. A decision is then quickly made.

Related trends

• Coaching brands

Two researchers have developed an Android application called Enkin that combines virtual maps with reality. This application couples Google maps with real time images from a telephone camera and show which object you are looking at and how far away itis. You will never get lost looking for your hotel again.

Future vision by Erwin van Lun

In no time at all these applications will be common property. This means that you’ll only need to point your mobile at an object to know which object or building it is, how far away from you it is, which company is based there, how many people are currently there, what the opening hours are, what the contact information is and what projects the company/brand are working on or which family lives there! By coupling information from the real and virtual worlds and integrating it into equipment we will be helped and led by the had wherever we are.

Dutch broadcaster KRO has developed a music player that takes account of your mood. You select your mood in the circle and the music starts to play. It's also possible to determine your mood by taking a psychological test. The player can be added to a consumers profile on the Dutch social networking site Hyves as a widget.

Coffee retailer Starbucks has introduced MyStarbucksIdea, a user generated discussion forum about products and service. Registered users can share their ideas about new products and can vote on others ideas too, ensuring that it is clear which suggestions are best. The ideas that are implemented can be followed via the site.

Future vision by Erwin van Lun

Brands are becoming more open. The boundary between supplier and consumer is disappearing completely. Soon this sort of mechanism will dictate what an organization will do. The time in which we trusted in a CEO as top man in a company will be far behind us. We will define our future together.

The ANWB is letting it's members vote for it's new logo. Members enter their membership number and are then able to vote. The ANWB is a Dutch association that provides, amongst other services, breakdown help to it's members.

Future vision by Erwin van Lun

Brands are now experiencing their brand coming out. The consumer, citizen or member of a brand is now more frequently included by the brand headquarters. Now it’s just a gesture, soon the headquarters will only facilitate. They are in the service of their subjects after all. This is an example of the phenomenon.

Related trends

• Brand coming out

Seatguru tells you exactly where to sit in the aeroplane. After selecting an airline the consumer receives information about the planes used by that airline and how the seating is configured.

Future vision by Erwin van Lun

We receive ever more advice from brands. Now it’s informal, extra information but soon it’ll be serious information available at the time of booking and at the airport. Your mobility coaching brand will give information via an ear piece to guide you to the right gate at the right moment, then you will hear: ‘You are entering the aircraft via the rear door, take the path towards the back of the plane, you will find your seat approximately 50 meters along on the left hand side. If you like I can provide you with information about your destination airport once you are seated’;. We are led by the hand. Lovely!

Dutch mobile operator Telfort lets you do almost everything online: receiving bills, keeping control of your contract or pay-as-you-go connection. In the case of theft you can block the sim card as well as requesting and activating a new one. This removes the need to call or write to the company. The developments have lead to a 36,5% increase in logins (via mc, Dutch). In the future brands will be built in dialogue. Currently we talk about self service, but it's just service: the consumers questions are answered more quickly and they receive a visual overview of their calling habits which could never be given over the telephone. Now it's done with an eye to cost saving and the interaction is pretty business like and cold, soon emotion will play a role. Only then can dialogue in brand thinking really get started.

This new telephone recognises the users fingerprint, useing it to give acess to aplications (via fc). Now it's used for securety, but this development means that brands will be able to directly recognise consumers using a fingerprint, a face, a voice or a combination of identifiers. This will be used to continue the dialogue from the previous contact.

Nokia will soon be releasing a shoot-to-translate function that translates all the text found in a photo (via nu, Dutch). Mobile phones are becoming virtual screens over a physical world. Now we need to aim our mobiles, soon we will only need to look at something to have a translation spoken into our ear. Later the text will disappear because we will be able to ask everything in our own language. 'Where do I need to go?, 'what's this, 'who's that?. The world reacts to us, understands us, anticipates us. The era in which coaching brands can come into full bloom.

Related trends

• Coaching brands