Hanging out with robots, the CIA, virtual doctors (and the odd dinosaur), my top picks from SXSW 2017.

With over 12,000 sessions, SXSW is a jungle of inspiration and cerebral stimulation. My top picks from SXSW 2017 are just a snapshot of the greatest innovation festival for marketers, but will hopefully deliver some useful insight to you. Feel free to get in touch with any questions or for more information.

AI Squared

Over repeat visits you really get a sense that there is always a star topic each year. 2016’s star was undoubtedly VR, whilst in 2017 AI took over top billing. But what quickly became apparent, was that although AI was grabbing the headlines and queues, the interpretation of what AI actually means varied wildly amongst both experts and attendees.

So what does AI really mean? Do you know? And if you do, should you care?

Andrew Moore (Dean of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University) in his session “AI in America: Preparing our Kids”, stated that up to two thirds of white collar jobs in the US could be replaced, or at minimum fundamentally changed, as a result of AI within the next 30 years. Although he did caveat that making a forecast like this is somewhat academic given the pace and “randomness” of change. Let’s take a look at this “academic” fact, how could it actually play out.

It is the “middle skilled” tasks and information processing roles which are most likely under threat; bookkeepers, travel agents, legal secretaries for example. AI Programmes which can scan through thousands of datasets, extracting relevant information in milliseconds will change the nature of what these roles consider a ‘job’.

One of the better quotes I heard gives a more measured perspective:

"Never underestimate the way in which any complex transaction can be automated. But there will always be places where human interaction and the warmth of a moment will continue to happen." Robert Schwartz, global leader, agency services, IBM iX

Ultimately AI facilitates the intersection of technology and humans. AI should be viewed as an extension of what we can achieve, enhancing our capabilities and democratising intelligence. Having said this, the sight of two robots arguing with each other in the Japan House exhibit was a little unnerving. Developed by Hiroshi Ishiguro at Osaka University, the plan is to create an android newscaster, giving new meaning to the term 24/7 news coverage.

Immersive Technology - it’s getting social and can really change the world … for the better!

Immersive Technology exploded onto the scene at SXSW 2016, and in 2017 it hasn’t shown any signs of quietening down, however this year it was clear that Immersive Technology has at least ‘grown up’ a little. This was demonstrated by the sheer the number of working applications of VR and MR (Mixed Reality) and parent companies developing solutions and partner technology in this area.

Social VR is also now upon us, by social we mean the ability to interact with others whilst you are in a VR environment. As this continues to develop it will undoubtedly have a huge impact, some might argue that this will be in a negative impact, but at this early stage the positives reign.

One of which was brilliantly illustrated by Reinvent (which stands for Rehabilitation Environment using the Integration of Neuromuscular-based Virtual Enhancements for Neural Training. Yes they worked hard on that acronym!). This Social VR application uses EEG sensors to provide neurofeedback when an individual’s neuromuscular signals indicate a movement attempt, even in the absence of actual movement. Stroke patients could retrain their brain to move muscles which have been affected by the stroke - relearning the right brain signals by which to move a virtual arm, which can ultimately lead to them being able to use that rediscovered ability in reality.

On a completely different take, Life of Us by Chris Milk really bucked the stigma of VR being an isolating experience. You experience the evolution of humans from amoeba to tadpole, dinosaur to gorilla, and office worker to robot. It is designed for two people and is best experienced with a friend as not only could you see the other person (or representation of), but you can also talk to them. Your voice is modulated dependent on the character you are playing, as an amoeba with a helium fuelled voice it had me giggling like a schoolboy. This video of some colleagues shows you just how much fun it was, and how totally immersed in it people were.

My take away from these two applications of Immersive Technology, and many others at SXSW, is that it is clearly a sector which is now finding its feet and producing real world solutions. Yes, we will always have the beautiful, artistic experiences, but more and more Immersive Technology is delivering tangible outputs above and beyond experience.

Mixed Reality was also heavily featured and arguably will have a greater impact for businesses. I heard a great quote from a Disney executive, who said: "VR opens the door, MR will define the room. VR shows possibilities but MR is a bigger market."  

I was fortunate to try out a competitor to Magic Leap, and although a minnow in comparison from a funding perspective, this experience has gifted me the now dubious claim to fame that I have had laser technology project an image onto my retina. Dubious in that the image I saw was small, and along with two colleagues, I felt a little queasy for a while after. What this shows though is that it’s not only the big players who have the ability to create MR solutions, the community overall is growing fast and speeding up the pace of development and innovation.

Using Neural Stimulation to Create Super Humans

One of the most interesting, and oversubscribed, sessions I went to at SXSW was “The Future Body: Modulating the Nervous System”.  As researchers understand more about the neural pathways, this in turn helps them understand how these can be manipulated and even bypassed.

A mix of experts from the Feinstein Institute, MIT and DARPA outlined how neural stimulation can be used to treat medical conditions. Neural Stimulation can be thought of as a hack of the central nervous system, encouraging the body to essentially heal itself. It is already being used successfully to treat conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, paralysis and bleeding. The “neural tourniquet”, for example, is a way of stimulating the neural pathways to the spleen, enabling clotting to form 50% quicker and therefore reducing blood loss by the same amount.

I did come away slightly worried as to whether we are heading towards creating “super humans”, immune to the effects of injury or disease.The potential implications for the misuse of this technology are clear, but for now let’s take the positives from addressing some of the key medical challenges of our time.

The Spy Game, literally!

Gamification takes many forms, from Pokemon Go right through to training spies. Sitting in the session, “Cloaks, Daggers, and Dice: How the CIA Uses Games” was somewhat surreal, as there in front of us were some self confessed spooks extolling the virtues of board games for spy training. Once I got my head around this seemingly retro approach, it actually made perfect sense. Using a board game is just a framework by which to analyse people's behaviour and see how they react in a number of different situations. Gaming helps trainees to share their mental approaches in a way that would be hard to tease out by other means.

In conclusion

SXSW is such a diverse melting pot of technologies and innovative thought, that it’s impossible not to come away with a burning desire to apply aspects of the innovation you’ve experienced. There is so much to take in, but what the festival has again proved to me is that there is nowhere quite like it to experience so much. I hope to be back again next year and I’m already trying to predict what that star topic will be.

James

j[email protected] / Client Director Immersive Technology