Julie-Laure Coassin | Blog | A Digital World

Renowned fashion house, specializing in gowns and evening wear, Oscar de la Renta, used Pinterest to showcase its latest collection. The bridal show in New York was ‘live-pinned’ as pictures were uploaded onto the popular social media site in real-time as models walked down the runway. There were also photos from backstage where models were seen getting their hair and makeup done.

via PSFK

Today, TED announced its latest efforts in the education space: a dynamic TED-Ed site with new teacher tools for customized learning experiences.

The new platform allows educators to customize TED-Ed videos with follow-up questions and assignments. This is the 2nd phase of its TED-Ed initiative, after announcing its TED-Ed YouTube channel this past March with 12 short, 3-10 minute videos that extend beyond the lecture format for which TED is known. The 12 YouTube videos it featured have since received 2.5 million views and are now available on the TED-Ed platform.

via thenextweb

Giving a new meaning to the phrase ‘window shopping,’ Bloomingdale’s has replaced its traditional window displays with interactive sunglasses shops. Now, instead of merely looking at sunglasses in a window, passerbys can virtually try them on.

The Lexington Avenue, NYC Bloomingdale’s features six interactive windows; each window is dedicated to a different designer (Marc Jacobs, FENDI, Roberto Cavalli, Miu Miu, and Gucci) and showcases four pairs of sunglasses. The interactive window displays are LCD screens that identify the position of your eyes when you stare at the screen. When shoppers position themselves in front of the window (an oval on the screen helps direct you where to stand), a pair of glasses appear as if they were on the bridge of their nose. Shoppers can see what the glasses look like from the head-on view and in-profile, and can ‘try on’ all four sunglasses at each one of the windows.

When a shopper finds a pair of sunglasses they like, they can select a print button on the screen, which sends a picture of themselves wearing the glasses inside to the Bloomingdales ‘Sunglass Style Bar’ — where a salesperson is sure to be waiting to help them try on- and buy- the real sunglasses.

via PSFK

Turkish gaming agency Yogurt Technologies announced the launch of a 3D virtual marketplace at the DEMO Spring 2012 conference in Santa Clara, California. Yogurtistan is an online world integrated into Facebook that lets users interact and shop in virtual stores created by brands. They can create a customizable avatar, try on clothes, chat with others, and buy both virtual and real goods. The aim is to revolutionize e-commerce and customer engagement, and game mechanics will also be utilized to keep the platform entertaining. Yogurtistan’s CEO Cemil Turun said:

We are creating a new experience by mimicking real-life engagement by going from store to store without changing a tab, or entering the web site address of the store. This is one centralized system. I can run into a promotion, a friend, or simply begin to chat with a stranger in the street, all of which is accessible on any browser or even an iPad.

Yogurtistan is built on Adobe Flash player version 11.2, accessible on PC, Mac or tablet (via an Air 3.2 app), and it is also integrated into Facebook. Currently in private beta, it features one plaza at the moment with stores including Turkey’s largest supermarket chain Migros, global retailer Quiksilver, and kitchenware brand Tefal.

via PSFK

Barclaycard, part of Barclays Retail and Business Banking, is a leading global payment business that is at the forefront of developing viable contactless and mobile payment methods. The company has recently introduced its stick-on credit card called PayTag, which allows users to make payments with their mobile phones. The Barclaycard PayTag is essentially an extension of a customer’s credit card account. Once attached to the device, it can be used to make payments of £15 and under, rising to £20 in June, by simply being held over a contactless payment terminal. Available to only Barclaycard Visa cardholders, the PayTag is reloadable online via Barclaycard’s mobile payments application — the Quick Tap wallet.

via PSFK

The executive chairman of Google endorses the Observer’s campaign to bring coding to the classroom.

Last year, the population of the world reached a new record 7 billion, but the number of people online reached only 2 billion. For most people on Earth, the digital revolution hasn’t even started yet. Within the next 10 years, all that will change. There will be great improvements in the digital infrastructure of the developing world – wired networks will get faster and go farther. The smartphone revolution will be universal. Within 12 years, handsets are going to be 20 times faster; phones that cost $400 today will be available for around $20.

In that world, there will still be elites, but they will no longer have a monopoly on progress and opportunity. People everywhere will become more resourceful – anyone will be able to start a business, a news outlet or a school from their hut or caravan. Technology will be a great leveller and those countries that can equip their young people with the tools to master it, rather than simply to use it, will thrive.

read the full article on the Guardian