Merging the tangible in the digital era to make magic [Net Prophet]

The world is obsessed with the ability to touch things. As a society, we are more willing to pay for something we can physically connect with rather than what we cannot.

This is according to Erik Jan Bijvank, co-Founder of FONK, an Amsterdam and Cape Town based agency that is dedicated to helping their clients disrupt their industries with multi-touch devices.

Bijvank, speaking at this year’s Net Prophet conference, discussed the tangible experiences that must occur in the digital world. He reckons that the creation of the mouse was meant to allow people to in some way touch data, and from that the era of multi-touch was born.

“You can now communicate, create, consume and control, with the smartphones. Like computers, their capabilities almost double every year. In some countries the market penetration has passed the 60% mark,” he says.

But…

Bijvank argues that although we are now allowed to touch, it’s still not the same. The world of touch devices is a world of “cold and smooth” surfaces. It is detached and emotionless, everything feels the same and it lacks genuine user experience.

We are losing more tangible things as we move to become more virtual, creating an experience of sameness. We lose authenticity.

“The world is seemingly ruled by globalization, digitalization, mass production. Due to this development a countermovement has started and is gaining in strength,” says Bijvank. More and more people seek honest and real products and want to know the stories behind them.

He argues that this move towards digitalization is the strong force that has the potential to influence our lives every minute and more. Bijvank warns that the consequences of this are everywhere and will continue to grow.

He recognises that we cannot stop digitalization, and that we shouldn’t.

“So it is not about digital or physical any more. It is about how the two can actually work together, be combined if you will, to create our future.”

Looking ahead

Bijavnk says that the gaming industry is where the innovation happens.  He says that people are “creating virtual iPad applications of their traditional games, and combining it with physical classical pieces.  As if it were magic, these physical playing pieces interact with the touch screen of a tablet. And by doing so, they pull the digital game out of the iPad and make it part of our real world,” he explains.

His examples also go further, explaining that users can also get this experience through playing cards with a special finish which allows you to actually unlock content via your touch screen. This cross over from physical to digital innovation already exists in gadgets like the Pebble smartwatch and the Nike Fuelband as well.

The real challenge is not to be just digital, he says, but about really making digital an integrated part of our real physical world. Making digital real through:

• Value
• Visibility
• User Experience

“By doing so, we can make people learn quicker, let people experience more and let them have more profound memories of a moment, a situation, a product or a brand,” says Bijvank.

The way he sees it, we are still only just scratching the surface and that soon the real will become part of the digital.