Louis Vuitton Gets Techie

Okay, so this is interesting, but it needs to be properly fleshed out in order to actually be cool – and I’m not sure what its ultimate purpose is, as of yet. Nonetheless, it feels exciting, which is usually the emotion elicited from us when we have the sense that something has potential to create change.

Speaking of emotions, here is the premise (courtesy of Jaunted): Louis Vuitton is rumored to be working on a bag accessory that will act as an “emotion monitor” by reading its owner’s heart rate and then syncing up with the owner’s mobile device, super-imposing this data onto a route map. Essentially, you would be able to look back along your strolls through Manhattan (or any lesser city – kidding, sort of!) and correlate where you were with how you were feeling at the time. Already, without the fancy monitor, I’m going to guess Saturday nights could get a little off-the-charts.

From Louis Vuitton’s perspective, this could provide interesting marketing data. From a consumer’s perspective, I’m just not sure how relevant it is to me to have my emotions monitored throughout the day as a function of where I’m going. As a psychology major, I think there are a lot of caveats to this program – we are continuously imprinted on by a myriad of factors in our environment. There is really no way to determine that it was physical location, as opposed to factors such as smell, social company or proximity to designer clothing that had our heart beat in a frenzy.

Also, why Louis Vuitton? How does this tie into fashion, beyond the fact that it attaches to a handbag and looks pretty? Once again, it’s cool, just because it’s always a bit cool when we remember we are biological beings…and we also seem to be obsessed with tracking things (Foursquare, anyone?) – but I’m not sure the concept has reached its full potential.

-Kristin

iCurfew Is Like FourSquare for Teens and Nervous Parents

TechCrunch posted today about an interesting new iPhone application called iCurfew, which allows kids to send their parents an e-mail showing their location. Sort of like FourSquare, but that only the ‘rents can see. It’s certainly an interesting idea — when my brother and I were in high school, we usually preferred to check in with my mom via text message rather than a phone call. I suppose this would be one step easier and makes it harder for teens to be dishonest about their whereabouts (not that I ever was, since I was — and am — a total goody two-shoes). However, TechCrunch’s Michael Arrington suggests that kids will find loopholes, like “pay[ing] off someone to hold onto your phone and hang out at the movie theater messaging nice things to your parents while you are off doing God knows what.”

Does this app build trust and encourage communication between parents and children like it claims, or is it too “Big Brother“-ish and will make kids go to greater lengths to conceal their whereabouts? Either way, I think the more important question here is, “Why does your 16-year-old have an iPhone in the first place?”

—Alyssa

Where in the World is Real Good Chair?

If you see a chair like this on the sidewalk, grab it! Inspired by the culture of “curb-mining” (finding cool things on the sidewalk and bringing it home with you), Soho furniture store Blu Dot began an experiment to track the journey of these sidewalk treasures. Beginning today, 25 of these chairs will be placed all over NYC, up for grabs for whomever spots it first. Many of these chairs will be GPS-equipped so we can all keep track of where they are and where they ultimately end up. The chairs’ journeys will be updated on the website and on Twitter.

Maybe following the travel patterns of a piece of furniture doesn’t sound appealing to you, but this whole experiment will culminate in a documentary featuring the chairs’ final owners, set to be released during Blu Dot’s one-year anniversary of its Soho store opening.

Personally, I think this is a classier way to get on camera than The Real World or The Bachelor. But then again, I also have a weird fascination with furniture…

- Kelly

Drivers Receive Real-Time Traffic Info via Cell

A new software program allows San Francisco-area drivers to view real-time traffic conditions on their cell phones.  According to MediaPost, “as drivers pass certain locations marked with GPS coordinates, the phones will send speed and location information to computers, which will compute the data, determine speeds and travel times, and then send the aggregated information back to drivers’ phones.”

Just imagine how marketers will be able to leverage this technology!

-Megan