Surprisingly, the Portals will be running Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant and be able to integrate directly in Amazon’s ecosystem, positioning Facebook in direct competition with Apple and Google.
With Facebook joining the smart speaker “party”, it’s getting more clear than ever that marketers need to shift their attention to this space, as the consumers’ attention will slowly but surely be shifting from phones and laptops to these platforms.
The tech
The main differentiating feature of Portal is its advanced tracking capabilities. The Smart Display is designed to simplify video chatting by having a wide-angle camera capable of identifying your body, then following you as you move around the room. It makes for more comfortable chatting than holding a phone up to your face for extended periods of time. Facebook says that Portal is designed to create the sense that you’re sharing one big room with the people you’re talking to, and considers the chats you have on the device an augmented reality experience.
With Portal, you don’t have to hold, aim, or direct anything. Once a chat starts up, the device’s camera will automatically find people in the room and keep them in frame. If multiple people are in a room, the camera will use a wide angle to fit them all. If there’s only one person, the camera will zoom in to focus on their face. Facebook says this feature makes video chatting more natural, since you can just talk without worrying about camera angles.
The vision
But one might ask, where is Facebook going with this? A quick look at their motto can give us a clue: “Give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together”. The statement has been effectively thrown in with every occasion, but what does it really mean?
We believe the Portal works as an intermediary product until the promise of Social VR is fulfilled. Facebook’s long-term goal is to bring 1 billion people into VR, creating social experiences and helping them connect in virtual worlds with photo realistic, full-body avatars. Portal, can lead the way into that future?—?moreover, it can literary become a “portal” into the social VR environments, enabling interactions on a whole new level of reality. Earlier this month, Oculus (now owned by Facebook) had their 5th annual conference, called Connect 5. A lot of new products and research have been presented, from 6 degrees of freedom standalone headsets to photorealistic avatars and room reproduction avatars, eye and hand tracking, sleeker form factors and more. It’s clear that the company knows where it is going and how to get there?—?but what opportunities does this bring to Marketers?
AR
Portal comes with new AR capabilities, strengthening the Augmented Reality filter market.
This is an opportunity that marketers should take advantage of, as the AR filter ecosystem is only getting bigger and bigger, with new product tryouts (lipsticks, makeup, clothing, accessories). Considering this trajectory, it is fair to predict very soon E-commerce capabilities will be incorporated within these devices, where friends will be able to try out new outfits and accessories real-time while asking their friends’ opinions or live-stream online shopping experiences, while using voice ordering. Essentially, the “shopping mall” experience can be transferred online?—?including at the same time the social element but saving time and adding the comfort of the user’s own home. Science Fiction? Maybe?—?or maybe not. That’s a scenario that we think is worth anticipating and thinking about. With these new technological capabilities, new opportunities for advertising will surely open, enabling brands to push boundaries and tap into a whole new level of interaction with customers.
The Alexa Ecosystem
Surprisingly, Facebook’s new line of products comes with Amazon’s Alexa Voice Assistant built in. Despite numerous rumours about Facebook developing their own assistant codenamed ‘M’, the company has chosen not to enter a crowded market and fight for a place in the top, but rather to join forces with one of the biggest E-commerce platforms in the world and rival against Google and Apple. However, concerns appear using precedent cases of security breach in relation to data collection. As a new space, trust is yet to be gained.
Facebook TV
Gary Vaynerchuck has been extremely vocal on how social media and Facebook in particular is replacing the TV and network cables. Furthermore, he even stated that he is surprised Facebook hasn’t launched a mini TV yet, as most of the watch time is done by a demographic of 40 years and older. Well, now we have it: Facebook’s own TV, that can run Facebook Video content and has Facebook’s online TV Network, called Facebook Watch, baked in. Having these smart displays in the kitchen and consuming content while cooking or eating will become the norm, as they are also capable of helping with food recipes and interact with other smart home devices.
Wrapping it up…
In a fast-moving tech environment where competition in capturing customers’ attention becomes more fierce everyday, identifying opportunities to innovate is essential for marketers in order to keep one step ahead. The AR filer space is a high-growth medium for personalisation and engagement, while voice-enabled apps are becoming part of the modern society?—?Jumping on the top of these innovations and customer behaviour trends can be decisive factors for business success.
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