5 REASONS WHY YOUR BUSINESS NEEDS A GOOD SOCIAL MEDIA PRESENCE

-Ankita Roy

“In the world we live in today, we no longer have a choice on whether to engage in social media or not. The question is, how well we do it.”

You can buy attention. You can beg for attention from the media. Or you can earn attention by creating something interesting and valuable and then publishing it online for free. When it comes to marketing, what are the uses of social media and why it would do you good to hire a social media marketing agency? Why use this platform?

Marketing is no longer about YOU but about the STORIES you tell. A brand is no longer what we tell the consumer it is – it is what consumers tell each other. And what could be a better platform to achieve these objectives than social media and by the very people who specialize in exactly this!

At this point in the game, not having an active social media presence is kind of like pulling out a flip phone at a business meeting and then not understanding why your boss keeps giving Ramesh all the new accounts. But some people still own flip phones, and some people dig in their heels and say, what is social media marketing going to do for me? Do I really need it? Yes. Yes you do — and here are some of the most compelling reasons why: 

Know your customer base

Part of what makes things like Twitter and Instagram marketing so cool is the interaction you get to have with your customer base — you can read their tweets and status updates to get insights into their daily lives (and maybe adjust your marketing strategy as a result). What products are they buying and why? What are they doing on the weekend? What kind of posts do they love to share, and from what websites? You can also use social media as a tool for connecting with complementary, non-competing businesses, thought leaders and tastemakers in your space, as well as journalists who cover your industry. Sometimes, becoming besties starts with a simple retweet. 

Respond to customer complaints

If you make customers unhappy in the physical world, they might each tell 6 friends. If you make customers unhappy on the Internet, they can each tell 6,000 friends.

If there’s a problem with your product or service, you want to know about it right away. With the feedback you get in the process of social media marketing, you’ll be the first to know when there are issues – and you can take steps to resolve them right away. Study after study has shown that consumers appreciate companies that respond to customer complaints (and don’t hesitate to rant online to anyone who will listen when companies don’t take the time to make things right).

Stay ahead of competition

Did you know that 91% of brands are using more than one social media platform? This isn’t something you want to fall behind the competition on because it’s much harder (and more expensive) to play catch up than it is to get in on the game early. If your competitors get to your potential customers first, they’ll earn their loyalty and you’ll have a hard time winning them over. If you’re active and engaging on a variety of networks, you can gain those friends and followers first and your competition will be playing catch up instead of the other way around.

Tap your potential Customer

Customers, you didn’t know existed will find (and buy from) you. In the process of marketing with Facebook, you’ll probably join a ton of groups related to your products, industry and customer base. By posting links on these groups, you’ll help influence customers to check out your site. Answering questions You Can't Beat the Price (or ROI) of Social Media.

Get featured on a trending topic

When it comes to newsjacking, social media is king. Sometimes your brand is mentioned on a cable TV show. Sometimes it’s not, but you know just how to slide your product into the story to aim the spotlight in your direction. Facebook, Twitter, and even Reddit marketing gives you a front row seat to the news that’s becoming viral right as it’s happening. Jump in at just the right time and you’ll earn some major media attention — and that’s something you just can’t do with a traditional ad campaign. 

Get website traffic/Store Walk-ins

People view Twitter and Facebook as social networks, not marketing machines. As a result, they’re less likely to see what you post as an advertisement and will be more likely to hear what you have to say. This translates to serious web traffic when you link to your site and posts that market themselves as your friends and followers share what you’ve posted.

Simply put, social media marketing is part of doing business in the new millennium. If your business isn’t already active on social networking sites, now is the time to start. Before you go blindly winging your way into the social mediasphere, a word of warning if you will: PLAN YOUR ATTACK!! You can waste hours on social media marketing to no positive effect, therefore allocate some marketing budget to dip your toe and get some assistance if you are not 100% sure of how to approach the medium. That is to say, hire the social media marketing guys to do it for you. 

Why Teleportation is Awesome!

-Ankita Roy

Quantum teleportation is a process by which quantum information(e.g the exact state of an atom or photon)can be transmitted(exactly, in principle) from one location to another, with the help of classical communication and previously shared quantum entanglement between the sending and receiving location.

All those who didn’t understand a word of what has been written above, put your hands up!! Above stated was a paragraph copied and pasted straight out of Wikipedia. To explain what has been written above, lets put it this way...remember how we all watched star trek and gazed in amazement as captain kirk and his crew constantly used their transporter to move between the enterprise and another world, an asteroid, another spacecraft and into an exact place in any of these locations. Or remember harry potter?! The floo powder, port-keys and apparition. This, my friends is what teleportation really means. 

It is the art, or ability (or anything you would like to call it, as it doesn’t exist in reality yet)to disappear at one place and instantly reappear at another place, a place of your own choice.

Why teleportation would be awesome is not difficult to imagine.

1.People would be able to transport themselves in no time to a different place at any place in any time. Distance, would in fact become a theoretical thing. We would need no visas and passports to travel from one country to another, free as a bird.

2. Cars, trains and airplanes would not be needed anymore, doing mother nature the favor that has been long due to her. Lesser pollution will solve a lot of environmental as well as health problems.

                         

3. If the ability to teleport were given to me with absolutely no holds barred on its potential ,I would definitely teleport myself to the future and first and foremost, wait-for-it, watch the entire series of "game of thrones" and find out how it ends because being made to wait for months for a new season of this particular series is definitely the most torturous act of all, worse than the beheading.    

4. Having satisfied myself of the future I would teleport myself back to the past, to old England, to the era of gallant young men and chivalry, to those wide frilled skirts and bonnets, to the age where Mr. Darcy thrived(aahhh….drool!).i don’t think I could ever teleport myself back from that age so that’s a dangerous gamble to play.(if it only wasn’t for the dynamic  Mr. Darcy).

5.As for the present ,I would definitely want to teleport myself to the secret mysterious lair wherein our college exam papers are evaluated. I wish to drench the burning thirst of a burning question in the minds of majority of the students in India-“that person and I have written the exact same answer, then why did he get more marks than me?”. What force of nature is it that prompts such injustice? Teleportation could definitely help provide an answer to all those students in agony who can do nothing except go “why you do like this?!” *weeping internally* 

6. So having made it clear that giving me the power of teleportation would do no good to the world lets come back with what its other general awesomeness could be. For starters, it could save you a lot of money. You could just teleport yourself to the concert of your choice without having to pay for it. Free events=saving money+having fun!!Cant dispute mathematics now, can we?

                                                                                                            

7. Teleportation is more discreet than other powers like flight. Less people find out, you don’t get mobbed by people asking for favors and you are less likely to be captured. And even if you are, well you can always be…*poof*..gone

                              

10. Also, crime would fall with the ability to teleport being placed in responsible hands and the world would become a safer place to live in. Needless to mention the positive impact on the environment.

Teleportation if it ever comes into existence would be a boon for mankind, at least for a while before we somehow manage to turn it into a lethal weapon.

  

                                          

Things You Need To Know About Virtual Reality

-Partiti Nath & Sona Jain

What is Virtual Reality?

Virtual reality, term seems self-contradictory. You might think how can something that is virtual - be a reality? VR is a computer based technology where a real or an imagined world is duplicated and allows a person to interact with its surrounding environment. A virtual world is created which looks real and very much closer to reality. The latest technology involves graphics displayed on HD stereoscopic display screens coupled with enhanced stereo speakers & headphones enabled for VR users. Majority of them function by stimulating sensory and tactile receptors- thereby making the experience seem like a reality. It creates a virtual 3-dimensional world where the user can explore and feel the environment like it’s real. It’s like giving firsthand knowledge of places or things before you can actually experience them. 

For example: How would you like if you could walk through a city or country before going on a vacation? You could experience tunnels, roads, water-bodies and mountains through VR that will change according to your sensation. This 3D world has life size images and objects which are sensitive to your body, that is, they are flexible to change according to your eye movements or tactile stimulation. This virtual reality system creates a feeling of being a part of a world or experience and enables the user to interact with the environment. This immersion and interactivity is known as telepresence. 

According to computer scientist Jonathan Steuer this immersion has 2 components: depth of information (resolution, graphics etc. of the images) and breadth of information (visual and audio which affects the sensory and tactile stimulus). This feedback sensory stimulus is the haptic system. 

The Equipment Used

The gear used today has evolved quite a lot. It isn’t restricted to 3D glasses and equipment. Technology has advanced so much that now you can get haptic system enabled foot wears, clothes and other articles for visual reality. A few of the gadgets are Oclus Rift, HTC Vive, PlayStation VR, Sulon Q, Samsung Gear VR, Google Cardboard and many more. Scientists and programmers have started using Virtual Reality Modeling Language (VRML),X3D, Collaborative Design Activity (COLLADA) etc which enables people to maneuver between different virtual landscapes and interchange/exchange files in virtual reality space.

Utility of Virtual Reality

1. The most prominent field of VR utility is gaming, film and television industry. Earlier it was only restricted to video games like those played on PlayStation. With the onset of animation films, VR utility has become a boon. In films like avatar, inception, matrix etc where a perceptive illusion world is created, VR played a crucial role.
2. For heritage restoration and archaeology VR is extensively used to monitor areas which otherwise can’t be explored without destroying artifacts. For example: for mapping the underground Stonehenge area in Wiltshire, UK.   
3. VR is used to create 3D models of buildings or roads or streets. Thus enabling in real life visualization of architecture & urban planning.
4. This technology is used by automobile companies to create 3D designs of cars and 3D environments to test these car models.
5. VR helps in creating virtual environments for training different space programs, military programs or medical practices.
6. Doctors specially surgeons use VR to visualize the exact operation model before a surgery. They can test various robotic devices before going onto actual surgeries. 
   
7. They can be used to treat different phobias like height or water- by enabling patients to face them in a virtual world. The advantage of this is, it occurs in a controlled manner and the patients are easier to handle.
8. Libraries and Museums can employ VR to create 3D interactive programs- like an interactive tour through the museum or a visual reading of a sci-fi novel.

The Indian Scenario

According to a TOI report from CES 2016 Las Vegas Convention, VR is the next big thing. This is going to be the year of Virtual Reality. South-east Asia, along with India is a potential market.  The main concern in India is pricing and non-availability of educated users.  So far VR is restricted to gaming and high-ventured films in India. Theaters and gaming zones have them. PlayStations are widely available. India today has VR enabled mobile devices and mobile accessories. Various advanced VR devices OCULUS rift, HTC vive, Project Morpheus [PlayStation VR], largely remains unavailable in the Indian market. 

Overall, VR is here to stay. India being a diverse country with rich heritage, population, flora & fauna, ever demanding healthcare sector and an entertainment crazy nation; VR is of prominent  importance to us. 

Virtual Reality in Chennai 

Our own city (Chennai) will soon be getting its first ever virtual reality experience – Kaleidozone, which aims to create all-in-one system that delivers an interactive and immersive experience. By combining the latest advancements in immersive head   mounted displays, controllers, motion capture systems and real time 3D engines. Kaleidozone delivers human experience with limitless potentials. The team has more than 75 years of collective experience as business owners, technologists and game developers, who are looking at tapping the amusement industry in India which is poised to grow from $375 million to $811 million by 2020. (Source: Business India report on growth of Amusement Industry quoting IAAPI)

Click to play

Youtube's New Fearure: The Snoopa Vision

- Pratiti Nath

Every day we go online and watch millions of videos – from educational ones to the ones for entertainment. Where do we get these videos? YouTube off course. Now, consider watching these videos from different angles. 

YouTube's new feature - Snoopa Vision does just that! 

On April 1^st, 2016 Youtube has enabled this option which allows you to watch videos in 360 degrees... wait for it... with Snoop Dogg!  Hence the name Snoopa Vision.

This is the brain child of the content studio Portal A and the Director Innovation of YouTube Ben Relles. Guess who is the project architect of this project? None other than Rapper himself Snoop Dogg. According to Youtube this won’t be out until a decade but a β-version of it has added the “Snoopa Vision” icon beside the “settings” options. They will role it out to all YouTube videos by 19^th  January, 2031. Clicking the icon will take you to a list of top most viral videos viewed by Snoop Dogg, Olga Kay and some other famous YouTubers. 

So there you go it’s an April fool’s prank from Youtube which enables you to watch videos in 360 degrees with Snoop Dogg and other famous YouTubers. It’s virtual reality with Snoop Dogg!

Watch the Video Here!

Want to watch videos with Snoop Dogg?

The Ice-Cream Van in SnoopaVision

MOMMYS BIG SECRET :) in SnoopaVision

Little Boy Trying to Break Board in Taekwondo in SnoopaVision

Football a religion; Feel the Game

Fans today follow a sport like it’s their religion. Imagine the stress a player goes through at a crucial moment in a game. Imagine how players feel when they get tackled by their opponent in a soccer game. Well now you actually FEEL all this if you have the “ALERT SHIRT”.

Wearable Experiments (We:eX) launches a revolutionary new technology in conjunction with Foxtel and Che Proximity, to get fans closer to the action during the game.

Alert Shirt

The alert shirt is a fan jersey that makes the wearer feel as though they are on the field. We:eX combines fashion and technology for Australian football fans to give them an experience of what players feel when they are playing the game. Foxtel and Che Proximity are Australian broadcasting outlets that helped in integrating hardware, software and design to help people connect to the television in a completely urban way!

How do you feel it?

The Alert Shirt takes game data and transmits it to an app; here the data again gets transmitted to electronics in the jersey via Bluetooth, thus converting the data to sensations and vibrations to mimic actions to those on the field.

Billie Whitehouse, Designer and Art Director for We:eX says

 “Your favorite fan jersey just got technical. Alert Shirt is completely unlike any other jersey in the sports market. Wearable technology must be intuitive and seamless within our daily lives, enhancing our life experience while connecting us to other people and the world at large. Our new product is a major first step in the right direction.”

The Alert Shirt is that advancement in wearable technology that connects emotions and feelings of a live action game among people over vast distances. This is a technology that enables fan experience into the physical and brings them closer to their team like never before.

Fans can now feel the shock of being hit when players collide, a thumping heat beat when the game is on the line, lungs burning every time the team puts in a hard effort, the feeling of despair; the sinking feeling of every costly mistake and of course the thrill when your player kicks a goal.

Video :-

References:-

·         http://wearableexperiments.com/alert-shirt

·         http://www.foxtel.com.au/default.htm

·         http://www.psfk.com/2014/03/vibrating-sports-jersey.html#!zMozd