See me, be me. The future of Lifelogging.

Lifelogging

This is a post about how Lifelogging will revolutionise the real-time sharing of information.

Related posts:

Seeing through Google Goggles

Blogging, microblogging, lifelogging. Evolution?

Laying the foundations of Lifelogging

Increasingly we use technology to tell people where we are and what we’re going. ‘Back in the day’ this used to be a phone call to a loved one letting them know we arrived safely somewhere, or a call to someone telling about what we’re up to. Mobile, email and SMS then became the easier way of asynchronously performing this action. The important point to make here is that the action of letting someone know what we’re doing and where we are was a one-to-one action.

The advent of microblogging, social networks and more recently geo-checkins facilitated this action but on a slightly different basis, a one-to-many basis. Social networking (as a catch-all) has created a movement of telling many people (our friends, fans and followers) what we’re up to. This asynchronous action currently takes the form of words (tweets and comments) and pictures (uploaded images and in some cases video).

But the game is changing with the advent of Google Goggles and the expected growth of related Lifelogging devices. Here’s the check-list:

  • Wearable devices (glasses for now, contact lenses in the future)
  • Built-in camera capable of recording still imagery and video
  • Microphone for recording sound
  • GPS
  • Broadcast and receive capabilities (Wifi, cellular)

These are the primary tools to facilitate Lifelogging and in combination will allow us to record and real-time broadcast what we’re doing, seeing, saying and hearing. This is the device and product that will totally revolutionise social networking, ‘status updates’ and everything related to how we choose to share and disseminate personal information.

What this is leading to is the ability to share real-time experiences with our friends, family and colleagues and allow them to see and hear your view (accessed on-screen via browser, smartphone etc).

This means the ability to broadcast home to your family to show them what you’re up to.

Or being able to attend a presentation and have your team back in the office experiencing the remote ‘front-seat’ of the auditorium.

Or allowing your friends to share the excitement of the big game that only you managed to get tickets for. You can bring them virtually into the stadium.

And the list goes on. In essence, anything you think someone would be interested in experiencing, as you’re experiencing it, is enabled by Lifelogging.

But let’s ramp this up a notch and look at the commercial aspects of Lifelogging and here’s where it gets really interesting…

Celebrities have embraced both Twitter and Facebook with top-tier celebs having millions of fans and followers eagerly awaiting their next update.

Bringing Lifelogging into this relationship you have a potent cocktail. Imagine being able to experience the life of your famous sportsman or rockstar as they live it. This is a shift from ‘following’ to ‘being’.

For example, putting yourself in the shoes of Roger Federer as he’s playing in the French Open final. Experiencing him toss the ball for the serve, attack the net with a volley and soak up the applause as he slides a back-hand down the line. Pretty engaging stuff.

Or what about joining Jay Z on stage at Madison Square Garden. Seeing the mic in front of you and experiencing the crowd singing back to you.

These are experiences way way beyond watching a Youtube video or reading a tweet. And sure, it’s not the same as actually being at a venue watching a celebrity as a spectator but at the same time it’s a completely different and totally unique way to experience something.

So, the commercials.

Shared real-time experiences will become virtual goods, allowing fans and followers to purchase access-driven digital assets in the form of broadcasted ‘virtual being’. How much would you pay to get a ticket to the French Open final? $200. Maybe more. How much to be Roger Federer in the final? Well, that’s the big question but let’s factor this down by 10x to $20. I think that’s not an unrealistic figure. Then multiply $20 by the number of Roger Federer fans. That’s a big number. And it’s also an entirely new market just about to be created.

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