The Sony Kinect and the Future of Viewer Measurement

You sit down to watch a show at 9 after a long day at the office, you turn on the TV, select a program that seems promising, and settle in with your tablet to check up on your social media network and the news. After a while, you shift slightly on the couch seat and put the tablet to the side and relax your posture. After another 30 minutes your head nods slightly to the side and you catch your thoughts straying gently into a dream. To traditional media measurement you are a dedicated viewer paying rapt attention to 1.5 hours of broadcast television while the reality is you were asleep.

The recent development of the Sony Kinect has the potential to change this dynamic. The Sony Kinect is a camera interface developed to record player's motions and translate it into action on the screen. Without getting too far into the technical details it converts the image human figures into a stick diagram and interprets the motions. Someday this will give us the Tom Cruise Minority Report type interactive displays, but for the moment it has a number of serious applications it can be put to. The Kinect also has a very active aftermarket Hacker community working on repurposing the device for a multitude of uses meaning we haven't even started to see the full potential of the device.

This technology has the potential to enhance, and also disrupt, todays broadcast media measurement. Today's technology relies on viewer diaries, set top box measurement, or tracking of online streaming. Each presents special limitations on data and are imperfect in their measurement, but all have room for improvement. The Kinect presents three distinct areas for improvement of media measurement.

1. The Kinect can measure viewer motion in the home, and therefore, estimate behavior. In the example above it can tell media measurement companies the number of people using a second screen during their viewing. It also would let the measurement company know that people get up to use the bathroom or make a sandwich during How I Met Your Mother re-runs but stay riveted in their seats during Sporting Events. It can also tell us that viewers tend to fall asleep during mid day airings of the price is right.

2. The Kinect can solve the longstanding problem of measuring large audiences in a public place. Measuring audiences in public venues has been difficult due to inability to measure who is in the room. It's unlikely that with current technology it will be possible to measure viewer behavior at a granular level, but it will provide a directional view on how much motion their is in the room.

3. More accurate measurement of viewer identification. The diary measurement system offers us an approximation of viewership and demographics which is imperfect. The tracking of people coming and going could be a quality control tool to improve demographic mesurement diaries.

he potential downside is the creepiness factor of being watched while watching TV. However, if the device was targeted at specific sampling of viewers already disposed to sharing information in Nielsen diaries, it may be an easier sell. Additionally, as it's only tracking motion and not photo realism the intrusion is not as great. Still, many privacy concerns would have to be addressed to prevent a 1984 style Big Brother is watching you dynamic.

The technology of the Kinect is still in it's infancy and the ideas presented above are just a starting point. It represents a potential land shift in how media markets work in the future.

SPHR Certification

I recently completed my SPHR exam and I thought it would be worthwhile to share my thoughts on the exam and the certification process as a whole. I know I did alot of due diligence searching the web before I registered for the exam and was thirsty for knowledge from those who had sat for the exam. There's a healthy amount of information out there published by the Human Resources Certification Insistute (HRCI) but there's gaps in the conversational level details. I think pursuing the certification was a valuable use of my time and I highly recommend it to other HR professionals.Here's my contribution back.

My background is in safety investigations and inspections, and more recently as a generalist for a small international business with a widespread workforce. This left me well prepared for the OSHA and safety questions, but my generalist experience was the most helpful in giving me an understanding of all the test areas.

The learning systems out there are probably worth it, would seem to formalize the steps I took. Since I was self funded I avoided the costly prepared solution and forged my own review plan. Below I've stepped out the methods I found most helpful.

Self Directed Learning

-Anne Bogardus PHR/SPHR Certification Study Book

-Long Term Exposure to Information - look at it regularly and for a long period of time

-Apply the material you have reviewed to a real world situation you are facing

-When an HR situation arises, reference the Bogardus book and see what it has to say on the topic

-Make flashcards for each section of the book from a stack of index cards and refer to them regularly, I kept them in my car and reviewed 2-3 before I went into the office each day

-Find your workplace HR posters, read them and pay attention to the numbers in them, one week later, scan them, repeat until test day.

Books/Websites I Read:

David Ulrich - HR Transformation, HR Value Proposition - Gold standard of HR guidance, exhaustive study of modern HR structure and how it should work

Bill Conaty/Ram Charan Talent Masters - Textbook GE practices, good source for the tone of idealized HR practices

Kris Dunn - HR Capitalist(Blog) Irreverent look at day to day realities of HR, good change of pace from normal, somewhat dry HR reading.

Becker/Huselid/Beatty - The Differentiated Workforce: Transforming Talent Into Strategic Impact

For me 6 months was adequate preparation, any shorter and it would have been rushed, anything over a year I would have started to lose the thread on some of the details of the laws. In the end I'm happy that prometrics test centers are in my rear view mirror for the near future, and very happy that I spent the time pursuing the certification.

4 Reasons to Develop a Narrative and use Storytelling to engage an audience.

1) Immersion - Engage Audience and Maintain Interest

The human attention span wanders naturally, from under 1 minute of attention to online videos and presentations, to a longer time window for slower media, notably books but also seen in plays and movies. Part of this is due to self selection, books don't work without engagement, online videos can be 1 of 6 windows open on a laptop screen.

Part of this is due to the nature of books and other long form media. They have to tell a story that keeps our interest over an extended period of time. This long form engagement can be a critical component of building brand engagement by keeping consumers interested over a longer time horizon.

2) Attach Meaning to Facts

Facilitates a way to develop insights into dry facts or data points. Infographics and data visualization can be a great help in this area, providing a concise visual punch that draws the eyes to key points and keeps the reader moving along.

3) Create Desired Emotions

There is nothing new under the sun. Pick a story that communicates the emotional color you are trying to portray and dissect the elements. Manipulate it into a framework or use it for creative inspiration to develop a story charged with the emotion you want to impart to the reader.

4) Springboard for the future...

Provides a natural starting point for the next installment. Just like an old serial novel, you keep the reader waiting for the next installment and development in the story.