May Newsletter 2010

What if we could project into the future?

By Yoram Yahav

What if...

Charles Darwin once said: “It is not the strongest of the species that survives or the most intelligent, but rather the ones most responsive to change.

If the word “change” has been crucial over the last hundred years, then today in my mind, it is probably the hottest term to describe anything, anywhere and anyone who lives, experiences and breathes on this planet.

What if people could project into the future and make more intelligent predictions? What if leaders could visualize and successfully enact transformation? What if we could tell when earthquakes occurred and predict their capacity? Or know the time and places of economic collapse and devastations? If this was realistic, would we act differently? Will we prepare ourselves better?

I argue strongly that our whole demeanor and our natural internal defenses prevent most of us from preparing for future changes, even if we know that they will happen sooner or later. More>

Mighty rivers of creativity bring Tsunami of innovation

By Prof. Shlomo Maital

Israel's Tsunami of creativity

A recent BBC World Service poll completed in February reveals a painful fact − Israel is regarded by much of the world as illegitimate, a pariah, a social reject. Against this tsunami of anti-Israel sentiment, rises “Start-up Nation”, a best-selling book on Israeli innovativeness by Dan Senor & Saul Singer.

Thousands are reading the book to learn how this little country invented the cell phone, Copaxone, Azilect – a heart pump, drip irrigation, the Given Imaging pill that ‘broadcasts’ your intestines’ condition,  the Pentium chip,  and a thousand other life-changing inventions,  while fending off enemies and squabbling endlessly with one another.  “What is driving it,” Senor recently told the cable network CNBC, “is a national ethos, resilience, the fight for survival.”

Why not build on Start-up Nation’s buzz?  Why not rebrand Israel as the nation where creativity lives — come see for yourself? A first step in this direction was taken recently by Prof. Shimon Shocken,  who founded the Efi Arazi School of Computer Science at Herzliya’s Interdisciplinary Center.  Shocken and a team of dynamic young people led by Maya Elhalal and Liat Aaronson organized a TEDx gathering on April 26 at a highly unusual venue near Jaffa Port called Na Laga’at (more about the venue later). More>


The future of augmented reality

And how it could change the brand, service and combat experience.

By Debbie Meltzer

The concept of augmenting the real world with virtual rich data raises our multi-sense experience to exciting new levels. Being such a high potential game changer, Augmented Reality is bound to widen its reach beyond the screen of  the slick smart phone. Digital signage, TV and more could not only follow suit, but gain a technology edge over the mobile world.

My 13 year old, daughter just told me about her incredible afternoon at the mall. At the entrance, a digital poster recorded her height and gender and helped her select suggested shirts. It even beamed up the stores’ shelves they were displayed on. Upstairs in one of the stores, a life-size digital mirror superimposed shirt designs on her reflected image. A virtual touch screen let her change colors and styles without trying them on.

She tried to display her “virtual fashion show” during a mobile video conference to her friends, but couldn’t work out how. She clicked a V-guide that walked her through, featuring a color-coded overlay with video instructions. As she walked out, her mobile displayed an ad showing her a real life map of nearby eat-outs with pop-ups of discounted lunch options.

Truth is, my daughter is five. But by the time she will turn 10, or even 9, Augmented Reality (AR) based applications such as these will clutter mainstream marketing. More>