Invented by photographer Jamie Beck and graphic artists Kevin Burg, the cinemagraph has become the darling of the online marketing world, as evidenced by recent promotions for everything from films to fashion. More engaging than a static photo, yet more artful than the animated GIF, the cinemagraph is proving to be more than a passing fad. And, now, thanks to a number of apps, anyone can make one.
Cinemagram: Apps like Viddy and Socialcam are starting to find an audience, but video sharing has yet to attract the numbers of photo sharing. Might it be that people find videos a little too real to share? Cinemagram may be a happy medium between the two genres. The iOS app can convert a brief video clip into an even more fleeting, two-to-three-second cinemagraph, complete with flattering filters, which can be shared within a social stream. It has a long way to go before it catches up to The $1 Billion App, but with one million users after launching just six weeks ago, it seems to be on track.
Last year, tablet ownership was eight percent; by 2016, it’s expected to be 40%. With an adoption rate that swift, it’s hard to ignore the changing face of the publishing landscape. Even the most stagnant proponents of tactile reading are coming to realize that what’s lost in paper is gained in multidimensional interactivity—and publishers are acting fast to reinvent their industry to reflect this dramatic shift in consumption.
Next Issue Media: The scenario is familiar: Select a Watch Instantly series at random “just to check it out” and, one weekend/three seasons later, you have a new favorite show. Next Issue Media, a JV from a marquee roster of publishers (Condé Nast, Time Inc., Hearst, Meredith, and News Corp.) is now delivering a similar media buffet to readers with its Netflix-inspired service for tablet magazines. For $9.99 a month, subscribers can access an unlimited number of monthly and biweekly titles. With most tablet editions going for $1.99 a month, it’s a deal for anyone who reads five or more tablet rags. Not to worry, New Yorker fans: a $14.99 premium plan includes weeklies.
Innovative gadgets and accessories designed to maximize people’s non-waking hours give those who burn the midnight oil new ways to feel rested despite limited slumber time. More recently, though, sleep technology has extended to encompass a new type of shut-eye product: the dream control app. These dream weavers purport to get sleepers through the night in ways never before thought possible.
Yumemiru: The Yumemiru (translation: “see the dream”) iPhone app puts people in the proverbial director’s chair when it comes to their dreams. Before going to sleep, users can essentially script the images they’d like to see while sleeping, from among eight different fantasy scenarios (including, ‘flying in the sky’, ‘romance’, and ‘becoming rich’) designed to stimulate the astral plane. Users run the app in their phone’s background, where it plays sounds programmed to trigger the specified illusion. Of course, the app’s roots lie in advertising—it was created by Japanese agency Hakuhodo’s Future Technology Works department—so don’t be surprised if you awaken yearning to buy something random.
A recent rise in appreciation of street art – as seen in film, in art books, and even on museum walls – has encouraged connoisseurs to seek worthwhile works outside of traditional galleries and exhibitions. Because few are likely to stumble upon an authentic Banksy mural in their everyday life, a crop of new apps has emerged to help users uncover works of public art in their respective cities.
Street Art London: With the Summer Olympics mere months away, London is finalizing preparations for an impending influx of athletes, tourists, and press. For summer travelers who seek a diversion outside of the stadiums, the Street Art London app for iPhone offers a comprehensive map of the metropolis’s vibrant outdoor art scene. This virtual guide features more than 280 urban art installations, including works by renowned graffiti artists like Banksy, Obey, Pablo Delgado, and Eine. The app’s Map Mode, which uses GPS functionality to plot and track users’ locations in relation to street art sites, is sure to prove particularly useful among visitors who are unfamiliar with the Tube.
Sleep tracking, calorie counting, outfit monitoring and fitness recording are just a few of the ways people have been utilizing life-tracking technologies. Designer Nicholas Felton even developed a life-tracking app that turns mundane daily activities into beautiful visualizations. Now, new happiness-tracking apps are emerging to help people recognize and record their good moods in order to potentially capitalize on the elements influencing them.
Happstr: Finding a ‘happy place’ has never been easier, thanks to Happstr. Developed during a SXSWi hackathon, the app aims to spread positivity among friends. As one of its creators explained in an interview with The Atlantic, “There are studies that have shown even a third degree friend with a higher happiness level improves your own happiness by 6 percent.” To put the statistic into action, Happster users check themselves in during their happiest moments. Similar to Foursquare, an icon pinpoints their locations on an interactive map, which can be tracked over time. It also displays check-ins from other nearby users, encouraging people to share the exultant moments happening around them.
