2018: A year in the life of skignz

As we reflect back on this past year, here are just some of the skignz highlights of 2018:

Starting the Year at CES (Las Vegas, US) onto delivering a skignz experience at the GREAT Showcase at the Consulate General's Residence (Los Angeles, US), followed by a visit to Apples HQ (Cupertino, US) to talk about skignz's 'Precise Location Augmented Reality'.

Heading on to SXSW, (Austin, US) where we launched the first 'Live AR Feature Film', J1S with our partners First Word Tree Productions, on the Uk DiT's GREAT main stage. 

Further Trade Shows and Exhibitions included ICE (London), NE Satellite Conference, (Durham, UK), Georgia SMARTCity Expo (Atlanta, US), SMARTCity Expo World Congress (Spain) and SIGMA'18 (Malta).

In early summer skignz delivered a demo in time for Apples WWDC'18, showcasing the new skignz IOS functionality, captured through an in-app video on an iPhoneX. Press Here for a sneak preview.

As the summer was drawing to a close we had our first skignz 'wedding'. Our UK VP walked down the aisle with his blushing bride, as a direct result of meeting through 'location based technology' and skignz.

skignz Founder & CEO was then onto India as Part of Immerse_UK's 'VR/AR/MR Experts' tour, taking in three major cities, presenting, discussing and understanding how technology can have an impact across their continent.

The Atlanta Braves increased their exposure of the skignz Precise Location AR Technology to their fans at their Pre Season Alumni Parade, where former players were highlighted during the street parade with skignz above their heads.

skignz winning a SMART City Expo World Congress Award, coming 2nd in the European Satellite Navigation Competition and Runners Up in the UK EXPORT '18 and Dynamo 2018 Awards, is a testament to the progress we are making as a company and as a brand.

Add to the above with members of the skignz team providing notable Keynote speeches and participation on various panels, at events such as SXSW (Austin TX), NE Satellite Conference (Durham, UK), RetailLoco (Atlanta,US), AdMonsters Pub Forum (Austin, TX), participating in numerous AR & location community events, all capped by ending the year securing one of our biggest client contracts to date, for delivery in January 2019.

All in all 2018 has certainly provided its ups and downs for skignz. Yet we have emerged stronger, our own proprietary technology platform is improving and expanding its capabilities almost day by day. 

Increased investment in skignz as various VC's and Angel Investors supported skignz continued growth. Our new and existing clients are now taking advantage of what skignz's 'Precise Location AR' has to offer? And how it can help them deliver on their own targets, aspirations and in many cases 'cost savings'. 

We look forward to what 2019 has in store, especially with The NFL's Super Bowl being hosted at the magnificent MB Stadium in Atlanta, GA which is actually less than a mile from our skignz US HQ, watch this space for something quite special in January 2019.

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

skignz comes 'Runner Up' in the Dynamite Awards 2018

With the Tech Industry booming in the North East England, what a great time to hold this year's prestigious Dynamite Awards.

skignz were delighted to be shortlisted for the coveted 'International Success Story 2018' we were certainly in good company.  

The evening was hosted by the flamboyant NE actor Daymon Britton who added a bit of theatre and comedy as he appeared on stage in his Speedos… yes, speedos.

Although we didn’t win, congratulations must go to all the winners in all the categories and a huge congratulations to Dynamo for holding such an amazing Awards evening and selecting an all-female panel….. girl power! 

Roll on next year and watch this space.Hopefully skignz will be victorious...

Last, but not least, a huge congratulations to Nomad Digital who won the category we were nominated for alongside SAGE. 

Fancy checking out the rest of winners? You can see them here. 

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

App Sizes - Annual Comparison - Does size really matter?

Since the original concept of skignz was ‘formed’ we have had a fascination with the size of Apps on our mobile devices. 

At first, we were more interested in understanding why Apps were the size they were and where efficiencies could be made to reduce the overall file size on your mobile device.

Further conversations and research helped us reason that most mobile devices had a certain amount of storage that was not supposed to include the OS. 

This in itself proved sufficient when we had a small/limited numbers of Songs, Photos and Apps. 

The big issue came when we increased the number of Apps on our devices (in addition to Music, Video, Photos,  Books etc) as they become available. It’s clear at this point, that none of the App developers were too concerned about file size. It was more around making their Apps look impressive and work as best they can.

Then as the OS’s were developed and upgraded (especially on your existing device(s)) the changes they made, would mean they would require some of this file storage space, normally reserved for your personal Photos, Music, Videos and favourite Apps. This, of course, has a knock-on effect with each of the App developers on the whole. It means each developer has to update their own apps in order to maintain the status quo in response to the changes in each update made by the OS.

This has become ‘part of the industry’ where annually the OS is upgraded to the next version and a number of times throughout the year ‘tweaks’ and 'updates' are made to that version. In many cases having this knock-on effect means App Developers are required to make changes to their apps immediately. Obviously, each change an App Developer makes to one of your favourite Apps, it's likely done in haste, in order to ‘maintain’ and it's more than likely that this change will further increase the App Size. 

In isolation this doesn’t present a problem, but with the average mobile device carrying 20 different Apps, if they all increase by 5-10% per OS update, plus the same twice a year as the developer pushes out increased functionality/updates, hopefully, now you can see why and where your storage gets eaten up ... not just a little but a lot.

Ask yourself: How many Apps do you have on your device? How much other personal ’stuff’ have you stored on your device? How many ‘new’ Apps have you download annually? Couple this with our previous point about the number of upgrades and impact of the increased file size of those Apps, then now you can see why (certainly on some older devices) you are requested to remove ‘your stuff’ or delete Apps just to make the OS upgrade to keep your device current.

You might say that with smartphones now having up to 256GB, why does it matter? We have plenty of storage space! Also add in the cloud access, which many device owners have access to, this should not even be an issue.

However, we would like to raise a few areas of concern with this approach:

1. All the Apps being ‘reactively’ altered to maintain the Status Quo are essential a ‘multi-storey tower block’ built on a bungalows foundations, at some point they will have been added to so many times, tweaked and changed that they will either fall over, or they will slow down, or even become too complicated to keep up-to-date. Each App Developer has an enormous investment to make to rebuild from scratch in a more robust and efficient way, using the latest methods.
2. As each of the OS develop new ways of doing things, point one will only accelerate.
3. As the cost of the latest hardware increases, yes, they have increased memory, but are they in line with one another? 'Cost of memory' v's 'Increased cost to the user'. You may have noticed the changes from 8Gb to 16gb, then 32Gb, 64Gb, 128Gb and now 256Gb. In many cases, the jump from one to the other isn’t gradual with a new handset as hardware suppliers offer either 32Mb or 256mB, not each variation in-between.

One key question is, “If Apps were built to be as efficient and lean as possible, would the need still be there to keep increasing the storage size on our devices?”

Below is our annual App File Size comparison, now in its third year and as you can see many have doubled in size. Some have increased slightly, and a very small number have actually reduced. The ironic part is our own skignz App has seen the biggest increase, but then we would say that everything is relevant and our 300% increase from 1Mb to 3Mb, but this is nothing, compared to a 50Mb App increasing to 100Mb.

A further influence, on all of the above, is the introduction of technology developments and improved hardware such as ARKit/ARCore, camera improvements, barometers etc. The Hardware and OS developers are developing their relevant areas with App Developers in mind, and this allows the App developers to adjust and redefine their development roadmaps. 

Why duplicate what the OS/Hardware people are doing when you can take advantage of the billions they are investing? Which is allowing you (App developers) to focus on other areas of your App.

Although many see the size of their Apps as irrelevant or a small issue/price to pay versus the app working properly and looking amazing, we don’t dispute the latter part of this as the user should always be front and centre in any App developers mind. 

However, in a relatively new industry and growth sector, can ‘best practice’ be introduced, aspiration standards for us all to meet as an Industry. A more standardised approach may (just may) provide a framework for greater discussion between those developing Hardware/OS and those developing the Apps or similar technologies that are downloaded onto our mobile devices. 

So does size really matter? We think it does….

If you would like to find out more about skignz, please follow us on the usual social media channels.

skignz is speaking at the largest location-based brand marketing event

We are proud to announce that our CEO & Founder, Si Brown has been confirmed as one of the 'Awesome Speakers' at the Retail Loco Event, held in Atlanta.

This is the largest location-based brand marketing event hosted by the Location Based Marketing Association.

This two-day event gathers together some of the biggest players in the AR/VR field to share best practices, explore the 'location cookie' and discuss the future of location-based technology.

skignz has been asked to take part in a distinguished panel conversing around VR/AR in Retail. 

Other members of the panel are also among some of the key leading digital marketers, from global brands such as, Coca Cola, Costco, NEC, Google and so many more.

See here for more details; the schedule, the speakers and register for your tickets.

We hope to see you there!

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

Un-Augmented Reality:

Tales from the AR Trenches
by Si Brown, Founder & CEO, skignz

Long time readers of this blog – friends and family of skignz – know I’ve been pursuing the very real dream of making Augmented Reality easy, fun, and useful for the masses.

In the beginning, finding articles on the topic was as rare as finding Venusaur, Blastoise, or Charizard in Pokemon Go!. (Of course, back when we started, there was no Pokemon Go!) Try as I might to find something tangible, most of the articles were related to the promise and potential of the technology.

As time passed, it got a little easier because 'the space' was heating up. However, we still couldn't find much in our specific territory. (Don't get me wrong...that's not a bad thing!). The growing amount of information was about AR triggered by images (e.g. a QR or UPC code) or 'features' (e.g. logos or open spaces in a kitchen to place an augmented microwave). 

While location-based (what we use) is another known trigger, it’s surprisingly rare. In fact, we studied the 109 applications in Super Ventures AR Landscape and could only find a couple of possible examples.

Then came two thunderclaps: Pokemon Go! and Apple’s AR kit announcement. 

Boom. Boom.

Pokemon Go! was indeed the game changer that it gets the credit for. It taught us all lessons about the possibilities and established a credible example of how a niche technology could explode into the main stream. ARKit clearly will do all that and probably more.

Add Facebook’s pronouncements and you might think skignz would want to crawl into a virtual cave. 

How could a small angle-round startup possibly compete? This is how:

* We use 'geofencing' in a very different way than all other location-based experiences (AR or other)

* We don’t place content in the App (we’ve <5 MB on your phone vs +300mb for Pokemon Go!) Take a look for yourself www.skignz.com/download 

* We have real use cases under our belt and a growing sense of what works (and what doesn’t) for our particular flavour of AR see www.skignz.com

In addition, those same longtime readers know skignz has been identified by some of the largest brands in the world (Coca-Cola, IHG, Cox Enterprises, Porsche, to name just a few) and have selected us to be part of The Coca-Cola Bridge Community program. That prestigious recognition gives our partners the opportunity to bring location-based AR to the masses.

For this we offer our very real thanks to the teams at companies like Apple, Niantic and others for doing what we couldn’t do by ourselves: Make Augmented Reality a 'reality'.

Credit: Apple's WWDC 2017 KeyNote

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

Goodwood Festival of Speed introduces skignz

29th - 2nd July saw skignz having an awesome time at The Goodwood Festival of Speed.

The Festival of Speed (FOS) offers enthusiasts an unrivalled opportunity to get close to the action and to meet the great champions who gather at Goodwood each summer. 

It has been running since 1993 on the same stretch of the March family's driveway. 

While the location has remained the same and Lord March continues to lead the creative direction, the main aspect that has evolved is the scale of the event: with the enthusiasm and investment of the wider motoring and motorsport community, FOS has become an internationally celebrated, sell-out occasion.

                       

skignz was part of the Future Lab which was the most popular stand/exhibition over the 4 days with numbers of 4-8,000 people entering the Future Lab each day. There were queues constantly from each morning until the end of the day.

Among the other exhibitors were:
Robocar - world's first driverless racing car. This was the focal point of future lab with thousands taking pictures of this amazing racing car - we took a picture created a png and placed the racing car on the Goodwood track.

 

Boom Supersonic - Boom, based in Denver, Colorado, is designing, building and flight testing history’s first independently developed supersonic jet.

Siemens with Tech partners Bentley Systems - 4 days prior to FOS they created a 3d Virtual Map of the Hill climb at Goodwood. using drones and a vehicle.

P-Val - Flying car concept which could be seen flying around Goodwood using our AR technology and APP.

Samsung VR - They had VR roller coaster seats the attendees got on and experienced the thrill of a Rollercoaster (their screams could be heard from outside)

Other exhibits included: Facebook 360, Ital Design Airbus, Trust UAV and also not forgetting the great Gran Turismo with their real driving experience (VR)

Being involved in this amazing event was very exciting, the atmosphere with its never-ending buzz.

We gave out our skignz QR code to guests around the festival to encourage them to download skignz. People could be seen scanning the QR and downloading then viewing the content around the Festival.

So how did we do it? How was skignz beneficial to those attending this awesome festival?

As always, our aim is to improve the experience of any event people attend and with Goodwood Festival of Speed it was no different ... 

We set-up the following Channels to help the guests/attendees:

* Facilities/Essential Info - toilets / water points / card machines / First aid points / disabled toilets / car parks

* Brands - Location of all the main car brands such as BMW / MINI / Maserati / Land Rover / Jaguar / Porsche / Ford / Bentley / Fiat / Audi / etc.
* Crossing points - points to be able to cross the track safely and via bridge/stewards.
* General fun skignz - flying cars/concords, driverless cars etc.
* Hospitality - Highlighting the Sponsored / Partnered catering.
* Family - Focus on family orientated areas - Big Wheel / GAS (motocross aerial display) Vauxhall sponsored kids play area / zipline / football golf and football theme events.

People's interaction with skignz on the day was a great way of people using AR at it's best. An event that not only provided essential information but added an extra element of fun to this already fantastic event.

For further information on Goodwood and its Festival of Speed and other events, please see their website www.goodwood.com

For further information on skignz and how it can help you and/or your business then please visit www.skignz.com or check us out on the usual social media channels under @skignz

skignz accepted onto Atlanta Bridge Community.

It’s exciting times for the skignz team; we are pleased to announce that we have secured a place within the Coca-Cola led Atlanta Bridge Community.


This is amazing news for our innovative geo-location based Augmented Reality platform. skignz Chief Operating Officer says:, Jamie Clarke
"The Bridge Community gives skignz an opportunity to collaborate on a number of levels with some of the biggest companies and Brands on the planet. 

We are humbled and rightly excited about Atlanta is one of the fastest growing technology ecosystems in the US. It is the largest economy in the southeast and home to over 30 Fortune 1000 companies, including the Coca-Cola Company.

The Bridge Company is a unique entrepreneurial community model backed by an exclusive set of large corporates focused on growing communities through corporate start-up collaboration. 

It was founded by Coca Cola and now includes some major businesses such as Cox Enterprises, Coca Cola, Intercontinental Hotels Group, Porsche North America, SunTrust Bank, Capgemini and The Weather Company are just a few who wholeheartedly support and contribute to the Atlanta Bridge Company.

The Bridge Project started in 2014. The success of this fantastic opportunity shows in their figures; with 10 start-ups and five large corporations starting 2014, which enabled 9 pilots and proof-of-concepts. Collectively these start-ups hired 32 employees, increased their revenue monthly by 150% and raised $2.9M in VC funding.

So you can imagine how ecstatic we were when we realised skignz had been chosen as one of the 22 companies to be part of this amazing project that helps companies take a huge step up on the commercial ladder.

We are thrilled with the opportunity to receive tactical, in-depth training from an enterprise perspective including marketing branding, sales and negotiation tailored to our individual needs. The idea behind such training is to accelerate us into our targeted marketplace. We will have access to internal and external mentors from some of the top companies across Atlanta / America / Globe

The Atlanta Bridge Community Model truly cares about the start-ups on the program; their aim is to help them build a global businesses. They ask for no financial investment, equity stakes and all start-ups maintain ownership of their IPR.

So you can see why we are so excited about this amazing opportunity. 

'Above we can see Jamie Clarke, skignz COO, in full-swing engaging with some amazing companies.'

Jamie added... "It's such an exciting opportunity for us to engage, not only with some of the biggest brands in the world, but also embed ourselves into the Tech ecosystem in Atlanta.  The partnership opportunities with the companies who are also part of the Bridge Community is an added bonus."

You can see more from other companies such as, Tech-Up Techwire and PR Web, who are finding this news just as exciting as us.

You can find out more about how you can apply to be part of the Bridge Community.

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

This Years (2017) Winners of The Sports Technology Awards

Making The Sports Technology Awards Interactive...

Here's how we presented the winners

Best Elite Sports Facility or Venue

Sacramento Kings, Golden 1 Center

Rights Holder of the Year

The Championships, Wimbledon

Best-Integrated Digital Media

CricHQ

Most Innovative Sponsor

Dimension Data - Tour De France

Most Innovative Fan Engagement Campaign

Dimension Data - Tour de France

Best Technology for Fan Engagement

NBA Rapid Replay

Best App

Find A Player

Most Innovative Wearable

STATSports

Best Technology for Managers and Coaches

Performance

ForceDecks

Best Technology for Managers and Coaches

Athlete Welfare

DNAFit

Best Web Development

NBA Facebook Messenger with WSC Sport

Sports Tech Young Exec

Alexandra Willis, AELTC

Best Digital TV Product or Broadcast Innovation

Neulion 4K Live Streaming

Best Technology for Commercial Returns

KORE Software

Best Participation Technology

LTA ClubSpark

Best New Innovation

RightNow Digital

Outstanding Start Up

Football Whispers

Most Innovative Sports Partnership

Hewlett Packard Enterprise and DS Virgin Racing Formula

Most Innovative Live Sports

Experience or Event

BT Sport - UEFA Champions League Final

If you want to find out more about the Sports Technology Awards, then please visit their website (www.sportstechnologyawards.com)

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