Volkswagen Smileage is an app that is set to socalise your road trips! Powered by the guys from Google Labs in partnership with Deutsch LA, the App syncs with your drive, has the ability to connect in multiple people, combining their photos, milage, checkins, comments and the like, into a Smileage score, which also aggregates everything from your trip into one very cool map experience. Plus, when you pass other Volkswagens with Smileage, you’ll get a punch (like bonus points). Make sure you check it out here to pre-register for updates!.

Something a little bit different, but beautiful all the same, is this art experiment using 15,000 volts going through what looks like plywood, creating some amazing visuals as the electricity erodes the wood, burning root like trails that randomly connect. A very very cool experiment.

If you’re a golfer, this could become you’re next favourite toy. GAME GOLF is a new connected product set that automatically tracks, maps and records your entire round of golf.
Puts you against your mates, the course or the world and lets you share your victories. The concept, which has so far raised over $100,000 on Indiegogo, is made using wearable technology, and automatically records every club used, swing made and yard covered in each round, and it calculates the key statistics for every game that you play too — scoring, number of putts, greens in regulation, driving accuracy etc. I can’t wait to see this thing in action!

I’m not quite sure if Photoshop Actions are used by retouchers on images like this these days, but the guys at Ogilvy Toronto have produced an interesting stunt reminding creatives, that Dove encourages ‘True Beauty’, by seeding a pre-packaged Photoshop Action that was disguised as ‘Beautify Action’ which when used, reverts any retouching to bring the image back to its original form, along with a message… Cool concept, but slightly misleading!

You know you’ve thought about it before, wondering how to separate the cookies from the cream, maybe because you like it separated, maybe because you don’t like the cream, who knows, we’ve all done it, just not like this…! In a very cool video (viral? how many views do you need for something to be classed as viral now?) from OREO which has had about 3m views in a week, which takes an Arduino powered machine meets robot contraption, to automatically separate the cookies from the cream. And in episode 2 featuring toy scientists, you’ll get to see the reverse, separating the cream, from the cookies. Click here to check out the OREO Separator Machine #2

Meet ConnBox. The Physical Digital Video/Voice Box prototype from Google Creative Labs and BERG, the guys who created ‘The Little Printer‘, which was largely prototyped during 2011/2012 as a series of experiments into what the future experience of a video calling device could become, with this video release just a few days ago. What do you guys think? More documentation here.

Most of you guys would remember the ‘Nike+ Innovation Center’ that was housed at Selfridges during the London Olympics, but what you might not have seen, were the 8, interactive/reactive kinetic window installations that helped to drag customers into the store.

From Kinetic drops that react to people walking past, to dunk-height jumping challenges and LED light flashing walls… All, along some seriously premium high-street exposure. Very cool.

Google Chrome UK have just released this new Chrome Experiment called ‘Super Sync Sports‘ which, as the name suggests, allows players to sync their mobile phones and tablets to be used as a remote control.

Once you’ve chosen a game, you’ll use your mobile to run, swim and cycle your way to victory, whilst the game plays out on your desktop or notebook. The game utilises HTML5 features like WebSockets, Canvas and CSS3, and whilst it isn’t the first time we’ve seen something like this, it’s helping to pull this type of interaction and technology into the mainstream.

Just about everyone is adding a custom filter to their apps and campaigns these days, so it’s cool to see RayBan’s take on it, and bringing it out of just the digital world and into the physical, to showcase their retro Ambermatic Lens which is making a comeback.

Ray Ban, created an app that let you shoot photos, send them straight to their flagship store where a killer installation was setup, featuring a TV screen that would showcase your photo, and a camera that would shoot through an actual Ambermatic Lens, capture the image, and then post it back to you to share.

And sure, while it might seem overkill for a process like this, it’s a pretty cool way to get people talking and interactive with the Ambermatic Lens. What do you guys think?

A pretty cool stunt from Qualcomm, the guys who’s chipsets power a tonne of the world’s best smartphones, to showcase how everyday life is just better with mobile. So they bought out the ad space on a bus stop, replaced it with a message pointing to a mobile site URL, and waited for people to hit the site and press the button… A few streets away lay a host of transportation vehicles, then this happened… and a few days laters 2m views… Kinda fun.

Here’s a great example of technology put to good use at the Royal London Children’s Hospital, patients now have an interactive playground featuring a giant screen that the children can engage with. The surrounding soft toys are integrated into an interactive game, so that the children can play with both the physical and digital versions.

Set in the style of a children’s book the interactive game, Woodland Wiggle, allows kids to paint pictures and play music with their body movements. The creators have designed the game to include the movements that would be the most therapeutic for the children. Artist and creator Chris O’Shea took into account the wide ranging patient-types to include healthy kids to those with special needs. It’s great to see that technology can be used in this way to enhance the therapeutic benefits of play.

There’s almost been an Insta-everything over the last year, but this might still be a first, with Orange in France launching a new hi-speed network and creating ‘Instagallery’ to promote it. Instagallery which targeted influential instagramers, pulled their photos into staged galleries half a world away in Los Angeles, with short films made of awkwardly scripted comments being made on their photos from people walking through the galleries. Different but cool. What do you guys think?

Here’s the latest global social media campaign from KLM, and knowing the success of their past, this one has big things to live up to, and at first glance, it delivers in spades… A socially powered ‘Must See Map’ that aggregates everywhere your friends have been in a certain location, along with comments, tips and recommendations from your network.

So what’s new right? Well, not only can you choose your own map area, KLM will send you a high-quality print of the map, including all the social data, so you can get a little old school next time you travel. Slight shame it takes 3 weeks to be delivered, but then again, it’s free! Cool.

Seriously cool. In Shibuya, Tokyo, people who wear headphones (or wanted to try them) were treated to a one of a kind Augmented Reality Music Festival late last year, called the ‘Sony Headphone Music Festival’, which ultimately expanded to ‘Headphone Music Festivals’ all over Japan.

The Augmented Reality Music Festivals were created using Sony’s proprietary 3D augmented reality technology, called ‘SmartAR’ where they created original AR videos with four best-selling local rock groups. Activated off typical band tour posters in key locations, Sony also setup Headphone trial stations so that anyone interested in joining in, could, while trialling Sony headphones. Very cool.

Interactive music videos are getting increasingly popular, more sophisticated and even more dynamic, so when Nokia went to launch the new Lumia 920 – it had to be done a little differently. Shot directly on the new smartphone’s HD camera, the campaign let users mix their own song, with the video to match and share that with friends however they liked… What do you guys think? Been done before? or cool way to frame it?