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purikura to videkura japanese culture

mysq video imagemysq video image 2

Although I’m a yonsai (4th generation 100% Japanese, which is a feat these days with the hapa hauli world at large) I still eat rice and sushi whenever possible and have a house filled with Zojirushi electronics (which are worthy of another post). The designers at my office frequent Japantown in San Francisco, and as such are very familiar with the “purikura” print club culture. Enter the next phase of customized, portable video culture, straight from Japan (KDDI actually.) Videkura is set to be the next rage … (ready youtube?)

From an posting by CScout Japan, trend watchers Michael Keferil and Sven Killan discuss the impact Videkura will have, focusing on the case study of MYSQ (My Style So Cute) created by UTUTU Co., Ltd in Harajuku, Japan. In this video created by UTUTU Co., you can see the control up to 3 people have in creating their own customized video, then reading the QR code with their mobile to quickly scan and share their video with friends. Michael and Sven write:

The possibilities are seemingly limitless when it comes to Videkura, as there are many elements that can be combined. On the surface we’re talking about short, shareable videos made with friends, but it becomes much more. Link to the MYSQ video here.

Users enter a large, completely white-walled booth, and place electronic sensor bands on their hands. On the floor are sensors that, when stepped on, create different video effects. After pushing a button, music begins to play and the users can dance around and control the video effects with their feet. By using the hand sensors, it’s possible to create on-screen effects by waving them in front of the camera.

This is just another ‘trend’ example but tied in nicely with the discussion of QR codes and the immediate nature of sharing and creation of customized content. It should be interesting to see how long it takes to reach the American and European audiences (even if it starts in Japantown) and what form of ‘code’ the booths will decide is QR-equivalent in the States. If we don’t get it together here and determine a standard format, the possibilities for marketing, distribution of online to offline data and simple, easy distribution of information from concert dates to housing pricing will be a missed opportunity.

Posted on September 25th, 2006 in Thoughts
Tagged as , , , , , ,
Written by Kelly Goto

9 Responses to “purikura to videkura japanese culture”

Comments

  1. Greg Fields says:
    September 25th, 2006

    Wow! The applications of QR/2d Bar codes are many … think about how easy it would be if you had a soft reader as a runtime component on camera-enabled mobile devices … which could then be used to enable viral distribution of mobile apps, “marked zones” mobile marketing, health data, personal ID info, etc., etc.

    I’m sure this won’t hit our shores any time soon.

  2. Kelly Goto says:
    September 25th, 2006

    Greg - the possibilities are endless. The cameras in Japan have a better ‘read’ on the nuances of QR than many cameraphones we have in the US and in other growth markets. Since Japan is a somewhat ‘closed’ market - they have much more control over device standards. As such, the QR code has exploded in use and is very much a ‘given’ in the Japanese mobile community. Elsewhere, we continue to either ‘wait and see’ or try and claim a code as a standard - and hope operators/handset manufacturers will follow. In order to work successfully in the areas you mention above, the standards need to be established, and the need / business case needs to be clear. Sadly, the’why’ from a marketing and revenue standpoint is not 100% there, especially with our often laggard US-based mentality.

  3. Michael Keferl says:
    September 25th, 2006

    Thanks for the great link! We’ll be keeping our eyes on this of course…and praying daily for QR Codes in the U.S.

    Michael Keferl

  4. Kelly Goto says:
    September 25th, 2006

    Michael - would love to get your thoughts on what it would take to get a common code in the U.S. I’ve talked to the CEO of NextCode and there are many issues which would need to be resolved before such an event occurred. Or would a single carrier (Sprint) start to “own” a code type and such as mCOde and use that to migrate new users to their service?

  5. Roger says:
    September 25th, 2006

    Hi Kelly,
    It’s a bit promotional, although I hope we soon see more URL-based QR and Datamatrix Readers and handset manufacturers start installing them.

    I think the best would be to go for either of the two ISO-Standards: QR Code or Datamatrix. As long as you encode URL’s this can be read everywhere with any open QR or Datamatrix Reader.

    That’s why the Kaywa Reader at http://reader.kaywa.com
    supports both formats:

    * QR Codes (Create your own here at http://qrcode.kaywa.com)
    and
    * Datamatrix (http://datamatrix.kaywa.com)

    For a comparison, see:
    http://roger.kaywa.ch/kaywa/ne.....rator.html

    PS: The famous Colette Store in Paris uses QR Codes:
    http://www.colette.tv/

    PS: For all who have blogs, you can now immediately mobilize your blog and get your own QR Code;) at:
    http://feed2mobile.kaywa.com

  6. Kelly Goto says:
    September 25th, 2006

    Roger - would love to get your insights on the new announcement by Microsoft to support QR codes in America (see more recent post on that topic.)

  7. Cryptnotic says:
    September 25th, 2006

    You mean yonsei (四世 4-genertaion), not yonsai (四歳 4-years-old). It kind of annoys me that you’re so proud to be 100% Japanese, but you don’t understand the language. Your feeling of superiority over hapa (which is ironically a Hawaiian word) is something that you don’t find as much in modern Japanese culture as you do in American culture. You’re more American than you think. Bigot.

  8. Michael says:
    September 25th, 2006

    Videkura update! There’s now a consumer version (for kids) that will be released from April. Link (with pics and video) here: http://www.kilian-nakamura.com.....tal-stage/

  9. Chris says:
    September 25th, 2006

    Hey if you like purikura come check out http://www.phozi.com. We just recently launched it and would like your feedback as a purikura fan.

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