This is an update to a previous post on multi-touch technology and Microsoft Surface.
Things are now heating up. It seems Multi-Touch G2 is ready to give Microsoft Surface a little competition.
VIA: Multi-Touch G2 Demo
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Surface technology will allow users to grab digital content with their hands and navigate information about Barclays' Premier banking offering. [more . . . ]
Microsoft Surface is a proprietary product based on new technology called, “Multi-touch”. Simply, touch screen technology using more than one finger. No big deal, right.
Actually, it could be a BIG deal.
Informational ease-of-access is about removing barriers. Specifically, the barriers between what you want known about your organization and who you want to know it.
What multi-touch does is bring your patrons one step closer to your products and services through direct interaction with the information they see on a tabletop display.
Consider getting a better view of your bank statements by sliding the “pages” around the screen with your fingers. Or enlarging a picture of a digital brochure by moving your index fingers apart. In other words, working intuitively with familiar objects, much as you would at your desk.
Barclays is apparently using Microsoft Surface as a touchpoint. It is a way to draw their customers closer to that sometimes elusive, personal relationship with the brand and what the company has to offer. Not through a conversation with a person, but through almost playful interaction with the corporation itself.
VIA: Barclays banks on Surface | OnWindows.com
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I thought you would be interested in this.
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The design concept proposes creating a small city and artificial oasis on a site on the outskirts of the city, described by the architects as a “desert-like” space.
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RESOURCES:
As an architect, I often look at design directions developing in industries, other than the one I am currently focused on. Many times, I have discovered a number of interesting parallels, which lead to fresh ideas I have not yet explored.
This video, on the future of personal health, has nothing to do with banking. However, it sheds light on new information technologies which may, some day, apply to banking.
As you watch, think laterally. Try to see the similarities in seemingly unrelated disciplines. Look for ways you can apply what you see to related areas in your business.
This technique has served me well for many years.
VIA: YouTube - Office Labs: Future of personal health concept
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I come across a number of interesting news items everyday. Some directly affecting banking and many related to business in general. A few are darned interesting and I have decided to share the links in a new sidebar section called, “News You Use”.
Incidentally, I particularly liked the links in red.
Please take a look and let me know what you think.
In previous posts, I discussed “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle”, as a means to help your business, while helping the planet. I thought, in this post, it was time for a few examples.
Let’s start with “Reduce”.
Alpine Bank in Greenwood Springs, Colorado, is using new storage technology to save energy and space. With help from Nexsan Assureon, they have found an innovative way to cut their storage footprint by half; energy consumption by 30 percent; and replicate 700,000 images per day.
In summary, they were able to reduce consumption of energy and resources, and increase performance. That is what this is all about.
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Reduce, Reuse, Recycle . . . Sound familiar? Probably. Taught in our schools and mentioned in countless books and magazines, the three R’s are rapidly becoming a battle cry, calling us to take much better care of our planet. It is nothing less than a global cause.
However, could it mean even more to your business?
I know . . . if you are like most banks, going “Green” may not be at the top of your how-do-I-save-my-business list. Understandably so, but can we dismiss considering the possibilities.
To set your mind at ease, we are not talking landscaped roofs, wind turbines, and rainwater harvesting, at least not yet.
We are talking about one of the business basics--saving money. By saving it, we have it to grow the business. And, since we are following the three R's, there is the added benefit of reducing our carbon impact on the world around us. We can actually strengthen the bottom-line and the earth at the same time, without going exotic.
The principles are simple: reduce where you can; reuse what you can; and recycle, recycle, recycle.
Let’s look at some examples:
Reduce
Reuse
Recycle
This certainly is not a complete list and represents only a few ideas out of thousands. Your job, guided by the three R’s, is to find the specific policies that work for you and your organization.
Bottom-line--follow the three R’s; let everyone contribute; develop a plan; and work it.
Times being what they are in the banking industry, just being resourceful doesn't quite cover it. And "business as usual", is a thing of the past. In fact, banking will never be the same again.
I have long discussed the need for innovation--innovation as a means to profitably outrun your competition. Now . . . it may require more. Innovation may be critical to staying alive.
Further, innovative use of your physical assets . . . branches, office space, equipment, furniture, etc. will likely be elevated to an even greater role in your strategic thinking.
In the next series of posts, I will be discussing examples of "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" and how this "Green" chant goes well beyond being kind to our planet and may be a strategic must for survival and future profits.
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In 2006, USGBC challenged the building industry to earn LEED certification for 100,000 commercial buildings and 1 million homes by 2010. This challenge represents the level at which the building industry must adopt green building practices in order to do its part in stabilizing greenhouse emissions.
In order to support this challenge, USGBC developed the Portfolio Program, which enables companies and building owners to integrate LEED into their new and existing building projects using a cost-effective, streamlined certification process. [more . . . ]
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The LEED Registered, $2.5 M branch relies on a wind turbine, solar panels, energy efficient windows, Agriboard compressed-straw panels, permeable pavers, and geothermal heating and cooling. [more . . . ]
VIA: Indiana Green Bank Uses Wind, Solar + Geothermal - Jetson Green
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