With Each New Medium Comes a New Message

The future seems daunting. It seems as though everything we imagined is possible. Retro visions of the future seen in The Jetsons were mocked until we all put our collective foot in our collective mouths as the future happened. Suddenly, we were face to face and 3000 miles away. THE IDEA MUG takes the same optimistic vision of the future as imagined in the past and applies new technology to make ideas into reality.

Augmented reality (AR) marks the next evolutionary step in communication media. We believe that AR, if used properly, can dramatically improve people’s quality of life at large. Technological advancement is closely connected with the human pursuit of happiness. Historical evidence suggests that a small step in improving communication can drastically alter people’s lives. The invention of the internet, for instance, created a new dimension for information gathering, providing numerous possibilities for secondary research, knowledge sharing, and crowdsourcing. The classic concept of a research library has been discarded in favour of search engines and online databases where desired information is only a few clicks (or taps) away.

THE IDEA MUG is no ordinary drinkware found on your kitchen table; this mug breeds and nurtures ideas. It provides a playground where creativity interacts and expands, which allows us to break through pre-conceived notions and experiment with the impossible. Ultimately, we want to gain an understanding of what our audience wants so we can turn an idea-in-demand into a reality. (Think of it as an “idea fairy” -- if enough people wish for something, it could actually come true!)

zzzzziNGG!

Bear in mind, like other branches of the media (radio, television, print communications, the Internet, and mobile), AR has to live up to ethical standards. THE IDEA MUG will explore unethical use of AR and its implications. In the next foreseeable months, we will take you through a couple of creative and practical use of AR technology. Valentine’s Day is coming up, can we think of a cool way to woo your ladyfriend/guyfriend and make them feel uber special? Stay tuned for our first idea.

If you have any idea to inspire us, feel free to comment or shoot us an email at social@merchlar.com