subliminal
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Ads will possess your phone using subliminal sound waves
Er, we don't want to sensationalize this or anything, but your phone could soon be at the mercy of inaudible sound pulses that trigger location-specific ads, sales promotions and other potentially demonic notifications. Unlike normal advertising within apps, and also different to sound-responsive apps like Shazam and Shopkick, a new platform called Sonic Notify is meant to work discreetly in the background, without the need for any user activation. Its creators, NY-based digital agency Densebrain, plan to attach small high-frequency sound-emitting beacons to store shelves, which will "set people's phones off" when they stand in front of a particular product. It's not clear how the platform might affect your battery life, or why you wouldn't just disable it at the first inopportune alert, but drug stores, TV networks and big players like Proctor & Gamble are nevertheless said to be gripped by the concept.
Image Fulgurator projects images into other people's photos
There's DIY mischief and then there's next level DIY mischief, and we'd have to say that Julius von Bismarck's Image Fulgurator is one of the best scare-the-squares toys we've ever come across. A sensor detects camera flashes of nearby victims, triggering a projection of the image or text of your choice onto their subjects -- and into their photos. Anyone using a digital camera will notice the trick immediately, of course, but marks with film equipment won't ever know what hit 'em -- although they might remember the weirdo with the pistol-grip camera thing standing next to them. Check the video after the break.[Via Core 77]
Subliminal messaging from the Spirit Healer
This is pretty ludicrous, but it's too funny to ignore: this YouTube posters swears he hears "World of Warcraft" and "give us your money" hidden in the whispers swirling around the Spirit Healer while dead (there is one NSFW word in the video, if that rubs you the wrong way). Personally, while I do hear it, it's a little too off to be taken seriously. And of course we all know that subliminal messages don't work anyway. But still, if you're the type to go for a good conspiracy theory, it is in there -- maybe the reason Blizzard has the top MMO ever made isn't because it's a great game, but because they're transmitting messages to your brain!The question does remain: what's really being said in those death whispers? Whatever it is, odds are that it's not in English. My guess is maybe Titan, the language of the Titans -- but that assumes that whatever's speaking to you is from the world, and there are probably more deceased spirits floating around Azeroth by now than actual living creatures on it. For all we know, it could be the Others.[Thanks, Dave!]
Ad for EVE demo turns heads, makes us blush
And we had thought the dancing night elves had cornered the market on sexy MMO advertising. No, it would be appear that EVE Online developer CCP is trying to do the impossible - market a game that is largely based around spaceships, asteroid-mining, and piracy using risque and very possibly NSFW subliminal advertising. And now that we've virtually assured that we've got your attention, here it is. If you didn't want to try the demo before, we bet you do now! On a side note, any resemblance of the above spaceship to a phallus is completely incidental and we think it's very immature of you to suggest otherwise.
Phonogram to brainwash addiction out of Korean gamers?
Young gamers in Korea have turned from national phenomena to national concern -- some have actually managed to "game" themselves to death, while blank stares and friendlessness are more common occurrences among the obsessed. Attempting to flip the switch on this unfortunate outcome of pwning, Venture start-up Xtive proposes to subliminally convince these kids to kick the habit by exposing them to an inaudible repetitive message. "We incorporated messages into an acoustic sound wave telling gamers to stop playing. The messages are told 10,000 to 20,000 times per second," explains Yun Yun-hae, president of Xtive. (Isn't that a little, um, fast?) The company has applied for a domestic patent and plans to commercialize the phonogram in cahoots with the government and game companies, which he hopes will incorporate triggers for the phonograms after games are played for a certain amount of time. Xtive also hopes to move beyond this application, applying their technology to other areas; Yun creepily tops it all off by adding, "We can easily change the messages. In this sense, the potential for this technology is exponential." You want to talk about video game zombies? Here we go.[Via Joystiq]
Game addiction battled with silent sound
Hear that? No, you can't. But, according to a report in The Korea Times, venture start-up Xtive claims to have developed an inaudible sound sequence that could have already broadcast its message 200,000 times since you began reading this post. And what message is that?Xtive says its message will encourage so-called game addicts to stop playing. "Game users can't recognize the sounds. But their subconscious is aware of them and the chances are high they will quit playing," says company president Yun Yun-hae, before adding, "We can easily change the messages. In this sense, the potential for this technology is exponential." Yun then cracks a grin, followed by a sinister cackle. Exponential...[Via GamePolitics]
Konami slot machines pulled for subliminal messaging
While we've seen quite a few instances where shifty gamblers got the boot, this time it's the slot machines participating in a mass exodus of Canadian casinos. In another tale of misguided marketing garnering awful PR, Ontario's provincial gambling operator has "pulled 87 video slot machines out of service or physically removed them from its casinos" after an investigation found some tricky imagery hidden within. Apparently, a number of Konami slot machines flashed "winning jackpot symbols" for a fifth of a second every so often, purportedly giving players "subliminal messages" that would keep them chucking away coins for longer periods of time. Comically, Konami is asserting that the flashing images are simply a "software glitch" that will be fixed shortly, which leaves us wondering what else could be ailing these machines for the betterment of the establishment. Regardless, the Ontario-based discovery has spawned several other investigations in the US, British Columbia, and Quebec, but it has "yet to be determined" if the flashing imagery has effected the gameplay of addicts professional gamblers.[Via Konami]
