Monday 12 March 2018

Where Al meets film and then meets real-time AR ...

We are delighted to say that the Department for International Trade (DIT) is promoting the collaboration between skignz, a British Augmented Reality (AR) company and the J1S Film.

Written and directed by Jay Cunningham, produced by Firstword Tree Productions at 2pm on the 12th March 2018, on the UK@SXSW stand, in the main hall, at Austin Convention Centre.

When skignz CEO and founder, Si Brown, saw the film trailer for J1S, he contacted Jay Cunningham immediately. 

He outlined how he felt there was a way that skignz could utilise the AR tech to enable them to give the film a futuristic look, enhance the flow and drastically reduce the amount of ‘post-productionrequired by embedding the AR live into the movie as it is being filmed. 
Once Jay sat down and understood what skignz could do, it was a
no-brainer for him and the FwT team and the look is exactly what they wanted from all aspects of the filmmaking process.

Jay says, "skignz has allowed me as a writer, and a director, to push the boundaries of what I thought I could achieve in Independent filmmaking, with such ease of use, but also with such slickness that you would believe would come from a much higher production value."

The film is based on the obsession with technology and advancement.  IA industries release a project, J1S, who is an AI military experiment before it’s ready and the consequences are terrible.

It breaks loose in the 'City of Liverpool', and they must get him back before the public realise what happened and IA’s stock collapses.

AI industries utilise skignz tech to hunt J1S and his accomplices down, in the underbelly of the Liverpool nighttime.  Will they be able to find him in time?  And who are the actual bad guys here?  We will leave you to decide that! 

Jay says, "It's amazing to be part of such a forward-thinking company like skignz, who add such a cool dimension and element to our film, that it was just the perfect fit. 
Working with Si Brown and his team has allowed the team at J1S to change how the film developed, and that's what's really exciting.

Working with British innovators and talent that share your vision, but also add another creative element to our fantastic team. We're really lucky to have them onboard, and super proud that they
 too are British."


And listen to Jay here talk about the importance of the film



Stay tuned on Twitter and Facebook to keep updated about J1S and his whereabouts.

More about Firstword Tree Productions:
Launched by Jay Cunningham a Liverpool (UK) based Film Director and Producer. Firstword Tree Productions recently announced its trailer for the ‘J1S’ film around AI. 

For enquiries please contact: jaycunningham@firstwordtree.com
Social: @firstwordtree

So please keep an eye out for the updates and changes either through this blog, our regular skignz Newsletters or any of our Social Media channels. 


Thursday 1 March 2018

skignz @ Chopfest, Suntrust Park, GA


skignz launched the partnership with the Atlanta Braves (MLB) last month, at The Battery in Atlanta.
It's a mixed-use development adjacent to The Braves’ SunTrust Park, in AR. 

Using the skignz app, visitors coming to The Battery to attend a baseball game, eat or shop can locate different venues, see parking options and get previews of special events. 

According to Greg Mize, Atlanta Braves Director of Digital Marketing, 

This type of location-based AR is a first-of-its-kind offering. Chop Fest is a family-friendly celebration of all things Braves and although the weather tried its best to dampen spirits with a lot of rain, the day was still a huge success, and a step forward for skignz.

During Chop Fest, the skignz app showed many of the AR skignz that will be present all the time, such as, markings of restaurants and parking garages, as well as event-specific signage. 

For example, there was an indicator showing the time and location where ‘Braves Alumni’ would be signing autographs.


Attendees could check when they should show up to meet their favourite player and follow the app to navigate to exactly where he would be.

skignz own Jamie Clarke, said that during Chop Fest, attendees were directed to download skignz from an in-app pop-up in The Battery’s own app.

The event showed how this technology will enhance the entire Battery experience.

Imagine cutting 10 minutes off the time it takes you to find the parking garage you left your car in, or knowing exactly where the restroom is when the kids are crying

Following our time in the 2017 Coca-Cola Bridge Community Commercialization program, the skignz team is working on a lot of additional corporate pilots.

If you want to find out about what we are doing then please keep an eye out for the updates and changes either through this blog, our regular skignz Newsletters or any of our Social Media channels.





Thursday 1 February 2018

skignz is Runner Up in PD Ports, Export Awards

We are so excited and proud to have been shortlisted for the 'Most Entrepreneurial Exporter of the Year'.

On the 22nd February, we will be joining some other amazing companies, who have been nominated in one or more of the nine categories.The shortlist for the PD Ports Northern Powerhouse Export Awards 2018 in association with HSBC has officially been announced.A range of companies from across the North of England have made the final shortlist for this year’s PD Ports Northern Powerhouse Export Awards, hosted and organised by BQ in association with HSBC.
Judges from PD Ports, BQ, Chamber International and the Institute of Export will meet towards the end of the month to decide the overall winners of each category and select the PD Ports Northern Powerhouse Exporter of the Year.
This year PD Ports, Northern Powerhouse Export Awards is in association with HSBC and this prestigious event will be taking place in the City of Leeds at their Beautiful Town Hall.  

This year is being lauded to be bigger and better than ever before and is a fantastic opportunity for us, we can't wait for the big evening.

Update:
Unfortunately skignz didn't win on this occasion, we consider being Runner-up as acknowledgement of how far we have come in the last 12-months with regards to our export activity, soemthing we will be continuing to many more countries throughout 2018.

The evening was well attended and great to be part of. Thank-you to PD Ports and all the other sponsors for making this happen, maybe skignz will have better luck next year?

You can see more about these awards at: www.northernexportawards.co.uk

Wish us luck!

Friday 19 January 2018

#GREATShowcase


skignz were invited to take part in the #GreatShowcase in Los Angeles at the Consulate Generals personal residence.

The GREAT Showcase was formulated by one of the US directors in the DiT a few years ago, to showcase everything that is great about Great Britain and doing business with the UK, to an invited VIP audience.

The GREAT campaign is spread across the whole world and is the UK’s brand for encouraging the rest of the world to engage and trade with the UK, this year's showcase included skignz and other brands such as Aston Martin, Jo Malone London, Mill Channel and many more.

skignz role in the #GREATshowcase came during the DiT Directors speech (immediately after the opening address by the new British Consular General for Los Angeles) as the director introduced the evenings events and spoke about current affairs.

Dan preceded this by wishing to highlight who in the room were part of his team so if anyone would like to speak to them, they would know who they are … usually this would be done by a request for the said team members to raise their hands wherever they were in the room, however we Brits like to do things a little differently, cue skignz!



The skignz Founder & CEO Si Brown, was present at the event and on cue, he passed the Director Dan Rutstein, his iPhone X, which was immediate mirrored to the large screen behind them both, on which appeared the view Dan had using the iPhone … this presented a range of ‘skignz’ above each member of the DiT team in the room, leading to gasps and awe from the guests. 

Although a very small gesture and moment in the context of the whole evening, it certainly created a stir and quite a number of comments and interest during the rest of the evening and beyond we are delighted to say.

Please take a look below at some of the photos taken during the #GREATshowcase event.

If you want to find out more about skignz, then please visit our new recently launched website (www.skignz.com) as well as the usual social media channels

You can see the #GREATshowcase twitter feed for fun videos and photos here