Idea #20 Annotation app that would let you annotate real books and share your notes with others
Using a mobile device, one would be allowed to take notes directly from a real book via an electronic pen or the device keyboard. The camera would recognize the page and the book you're reading and would add your comments or notes exactly where you want it to appear in the book. That person could make their notes available to friends or the world or even keep them private. People who want to see the notes would then have to use their mobile device and the app which would make all the notes and comments appear in the book through the screen of the device.
Idea #14 Game based on geolocation so players have to interact and exchange information in real life
It would be nice if we could push games that use geolocation a bit further and use technology to make people interact with one another in the real world. I don't have a clear idea here, but I'm thinking something with clans (vampires & humans, or aliens vs humans, muggle vs wizards, etc.) in which people would have to partner in real life to accomplish missions and to share knowledge. The game would be played on your mobile device, and you might be sitting on the bus on your way to work or school and realize that someone on the same bus as you has access to an item or a knowledge you need to access the second level. That would mean you would have to find that person and talk to him/her in real life in order to exchange whatever you need. On the other hand, if an enemy is on the bus, then you have to make sure you inflict damage (virtual obviously), or you could even try to change your identity and befriend the enemy to gain access to knowledge only they have, etc. The idea here is mainly to combine real world with virtual world and make people talk to each other and make new friends. The game would have to be scalable so players can modify and do what they want we the game. They shouldn't be restricted to a script or main "actions".
Idea #9 Add wireless touch screen devices on shopping carts to combine the best of real & virtual worlds
If you're like me, shopping probably upset you most of the time because of the limitations of both the real and the virtual worlds. If you're online you can't touch, smell or try the product, if you're at a physical store it can be a real pain to find what you're looking for. The idea here is to implement a digital system on shopping carts that would bridge the gap and offer the best of the 2 worlds. Need to know where that 72-Piece Pneumatic Accessory Set announced in the flyer this week is? Ask your cart. Want to know what brand offers the best deal on ketchup? Ask your cart. Want to know when they'll restock 10" Spiral Nail? Ask your cart. What pair of jeans has the best reviews or the highest rating? Ask your cart.
The cart could also be used to advertise special offers based on where the customer is standing. For instance,let's say a customer is in aisle #5 and has been standing next to dog food for few minutes, then a Iams ad would play and offer 15% off. A premium could be charged to suppliers to advertise on the cart and would offer one more channel to increase revenues.
Possibilities are almost endless, a member card could be used for example so the cart would know what the customer usually buys so it would offer discounts and an itinerary based on the customer's habits. Demo videos could be played, such as cooking lessons in a supermarket or washroom renovation in a home depot.
As the price of touch screens decreases these devices would become more affordable and the extra stream of revenues from advertising could also cover part of the cost.
Idea #8 Augmented Reality: multimedia aggregator accessible through smartphones & physical tags
As smartphones with Internet access become the norm, things will change. One hot topic right now is augmented reality and it's about making the reality "better" by using technology. Here I'm using AR in a slightly different meaning than the official definition given by wikipedia. But the point is that technology can support you and give you more information than what would normally be available in the "natural" world. My idea is in 2 steps. First create a content aggregator a la Squidoo in which a user can put together the best resources available on a given topic: videos, sounds, news articles, blog posts, pictures, etc. This page could be modified by other users or not, that would be up to the creator. Second, upon successful creation of a "page", a short URL, a code and an image would be automatically created. A short URL would make it easier for the user to share his or her page with other people online via traditional channels (e.g. Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.). The code and the image are both URLs and are meant to be used as URLs for smartphones and connect the virtual world with the real world.
Here's an example of how that would work. Let's say you work for a museum for instance and you want to enrich the experience of your visitors by creating a page about your latest exhibition with videos, pictures, and articles about the artist and her art. Then you print the image and the code (they are both a physical URL to your page). You make the code and the image apparent so people can see them. Finally, your visitors use their smartphone to either manually enter the code to access your page or better use their smartphone camera to take a picture of the image which a software would decode and redirect you to the right page. The image might sound confusing, but that technology already exists and you can read more about it here.
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