Arcade Fire, The Wilderness Downtown & Transmedia Storytelling

One of the most inspired and compelling web experiences we have seen recently launched on Monday, a collaboration between Google, filmmaker Chris Milk and Montreal mega-indie band Arcade Fire.

This is not the first time we’ve seen Arcade Fire push the envelope of what a music video should be. In 2007, the band released a short interactive video for the title track of their second album Neon Bible on their bonlineb.com site. The viewer could click to control what Win Butler did with hands, or click on his face to reveal the song’s lyrics.

The Wilderness Downtown Experience

The latest interactive Arcade Fire project ‘The Wilderness Downtown‘ described by Google as a “Chrome Experience’, features the song ‘We Used to Wait’ from their new album Suburbs. The lyrics of the song refer back to the days before instant communications when we used to write letters and the anticipation of waiting for them to be delivered. The experiment was built using the latest open web technologies including HTML5, video, audio and canvas. The details of how each technology was used in the project are listed on the Chrome Experiments site.

The experience begins by entering the street address of your childhood home.  Upon launch we see a browser pane open with a child running down a suburban street. Soon, other windows begin to open and we see flocks of animated birds, a Google Maps satellite view and rotating Street View images appear based on the address chosen. I’ve watched this with several friends over the week, and have seen the smiles appear on their faces as they point out the house they grew up in. Its inspiring to see a project on the web generate such emotional response.

One of the most poignant moments happens when they viewer is invited to write a postcard to their childhood selves. After drawing the message with your cursor, the animated birds fly in to roost on the type before flying off into another one of the panes. The song climaxes with animated trees exploding into view on the paved streets within the Street View image captures.

The experience continues by ‘Sending your Postcard Downtown’. The digital postcard has a unique URL that the user is asked to bookmark, this is where they will receive digital postcards from other users. The postcards will also be used as live concert visuals during Arcade Fire’s tour. Some postcards will be made into printed cards on special paper that contains birch tree seeds and distributed at concerts. Plant the cards and a tree grows.

Transmedia Experiences

Its inspiring to see artists such as Arcade Fire break out of the norm and expand upon the idea of what a promotional video is, and to take advantage of technologies to tell a compelling story. We can expect to see much more projects like this is the future, involving combinations of the real-world, web, mobile, augmented reality and social media. The only limits are the artist’s imagination, whether than artist be a musician, visual artist, filmmaker or programmer. The term “transmedia” has been adopted to describe these experiences, as stories are presented across a number of media platforms with multiple paths, entry and exit points available to the viewer.

Digital Touchpoints & the Customer Experience

These transmedia experiences can be compared in scope to the digital customer experience world in which Delvinia operates. The customer’s story with an organization or brand can evolve in any number of ways. What is key is that the digital and ‘real-life’ touchpoints provide a positive experience for the customer whether they are on your website, Facebook page, on the phone to your call-center or walking into a physical storefront. Create a compelling and positive story for your customer to tell.

RIP Google Wave. Was it just too different?

In the beginning

I remember May 28, 2009 as if it was yesterday.  A friend had emailed me a link to the demo of Google’s latest shiny object, Google Wave.  As I watched the video demo, the hosts revealed a list of wondrous features; live multi-user updating, nested comments, filters, and wait one second – was that a playback feature? I began to imagine Wave replacing the dozens of rambling and broken email chains. It could be used for documenting project notes where everyone could contribute and collaborate in real time. This could change everything!

OK, who wants invites?

At the end of September, 2009 the Wave invite hysteria began. You learned quickly who your real friends were as they rationed out their 10 precious invites. The Wave hysteria reached a fever pitch as the invites began appearing on Ebay, with bids reaching into the thousands of dollars.

My invite arrived from a friend, and with one click (well there was that 2 week period of waiting for confirmation) there it was on my screen, Google ‘frickin’ Wave. Here were those magical features and functionality at my beck and call. The problem was only a few of my contacts were actually on Wave. I joined two Waves where we talked about Google Wave, we posted back and forth and then… nothing. OK well, maybe not nothing, but there was very little to do in Wave by yourself.

Eventually I did start using Wave for event planning notes and creating a Wiki-like stream of knowledge around social media and emerging technologies. But it never really became a part of my everyday online habits. I continued to use email, instant messenger and social media platforms as I had done before. Wave just did not fit into a natural spot in my work flow. It turned out it was a little bit of everything and not enough of anything to replace what i was already doing. It never really caught on with anyone I worked with. My Waves became ripples (insert LOL here) and eventually I stopped going back.

Death is not the end

Oh, but fear not. This is not the end of Google Wave. Remember the Innovation credo ‘If you’re not failing, then you’re not taking enough chances’. Wave’s important features will be incorporated into new upcoming Google products.

I think one of the big issues with Wave was that it was just too different. Wave wanted me to change how I work and adapt to its way of doing things.

Why do you think Google Wave failed? Is it too much to expect that our online work habits can change to adapt to a radical new approach like Wave? Or was Google Wave simply a bad product?

5 Most Viewed Articles on the Delvinia Link Pool: May 24 – May 30

“Facebook Questions” Tapping Into Friends’ Opinions, May be More Fun than Intellectual | InsideFacebook

Ten Non-Photoshopped Images That Will Warp Your Mind | Gizmodo

Overview – Installable Web Apps | Google Code

iMedia’s Liz Ross: No More Digital Agencies…Just Agencies | Adbean

IRONY: Warner Bros. Sued for Pirating Anti-Pirating Technology | Gizmodo

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