Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Technology in Use at 2011 North American International Auto Show

My buddy Jeff and I took our annual trip up to Detroit to check out the North American International Auto Show this past Monday. While we were there to see all the new automobile technology, I again paid attention to use of technology on the floor:


  • The Microsoft Kinect 3D controller was being used by both Chevrolet and Ford. Chevy had five booths with a side-by-side racing game to promote the Volt while Ford used it to capture images of attendees passing by a kiosk and then green screen the image over various backgrounds and displayed it. While many manufacturers had touch screen displays for product information, Fiat used Kinect to create an interactive display that was shown on a large display screen for everyone to see (ala Minority Report)


  • Chevrolet had a Camero flanked by cameras that produced 3D images.


  • Toyota had a touch-screen wall with three large video panels that allowed one to explore the Prius. Ford had a touch screen wall that allowed one to create custom paint jobs for the Mustang.


  • Technology/social media seen at past shows such as foursquare and Facebook were still in use. AutoTrader.com picked on the fact that I had checked in and sent me an @mention to flash their tweet at their booth for a prize. (I didn't catch the tweet)


  • Just two years ago only Kia was using QR codes. This year there were many. I wan't the only one snapping images of codes this year.


  • Flickr continues to be the image service of choice with over 3,500 photo uploads

  • Sphere: Related Content