The Collaborative Creation

Three advances in digital technology combine to give us one great taste. Because of the following factors along with the ever-connectedness of social media, 2013 will be the year of the collaborative creation.

Amazing Cameras In Our Phones

The cameras in our smart phones have been steadily improving with each new version introduced. Whether you own an iPhone 5, Nexus III or Droid, each captures an 8-megapixel image, allowing for stunning photography. Even more impressive is the video capabilities that were once reserved for big, bulky recorders. All the newest cameras — err, phones — let you shoot video good enough to show on your HD television in the family room. Granted, still and video cameras designed for that singular purpose still produce better results, but what we already carry in our pockets does amazing stuff.

Faster Networks

Mobile connection speeds are on a steep adoption incline with 4G/LTE speeds rolling out across the U.S. By the end of 2012, LTE availability will be up 334 percent over 2011, reaching more than 73 million people. The faster speeds let us do more with the supercomputers in our pockets, such as watching videos on the go and using Facetime or Skype to keep in touch with distant family.

Free Cloud Storage

If you’ve read anything about cloud computing, you’re probably most familiar with it in terms of storage from services like Dropbox, Amazon or Apple’s iCloud. All of these offer some level of free storage, up to 5GB, so you can access photos, files, books and calendars from any device connected to the Internet. As the cost of storage becomes negligible, we’re beginning to see more apps and services take advantage of free storage and pass it on to us. Enter the collaborative creation.

Cue Camera One

Two apps leveraging these advances are Vyclone and Ptch. Install either one on your phone (only available on iPhone), connect with friends and you’re on your way to creating videos that make you look like a pro. In their words, Ptch lets you “pitch and re-pitch videos from you and your friends.” They call these video creations “living media,” meaning they’re forever malleable. Videos you’ve made can be re-mixed by your friends, which can then be re-mixed again by you. Think of it as iMovie on steroids. Filters, transitions and a music layer on top of videos can make anyone feel like a pro. Vyclone does similar collaborations with the added factor of being geo-aware. Use the app to film any event and then create mashups with other videos in the vicinity. The folks behind Vyclone have been working hard with musicians to encourage adoption of the app by their fans. Artists like Jason Mraz are promoting Vyclone to be used at his concerts, and he will wind up editing a video for one of his songs. And of course these apps hook into your personal networks allowing you to post to Facebook and Twitter.

A Seat at the Table

Along with millions of views on YouTube, the most popular brands and their campaigns also inspire people to create their own versions of them without any prompting from the brand. Now, apps like Ptch and Vyclone can be vehicles for brands to easily provide these same fans with assets like logos, bumpers and exclusive video content to mix and re-mix their personal versions of a campaign. Think of it as user generated content with guardrails. In this era of collaboration and user-generated content, what are you creating for your brands that leave a seat at the table for its customers?