Trend Category:
Mobile, QR Codes, Japanese Teen Girl Culture, Viral Video, User Created Mobile Video Booths
Trend Description:
Print Club or “purikura” has been a staple of Japanese teen culture (mostly girls) for the last decade. It involves taking pictures with friends in a booth, and then being able to customize every aspect of the pictures, as well as design them afterwards before printing them. The technology has evolved to the point where digital copies can be emailed to users’ phones or PCs. The next step is video booths (Videkura), which will produce, create, and edit videos made available via mobile phone or internet, and can be easily shared with friends.
Cases:
MYSQ – My Style So Qute
Created by the UTUTU Co., Ltd., MYSQ is currently being displayed at the KDDI Design Studio in Harajuku, Tokyo. Users enter a large, completely white-walled booth, and place electronic sensor bands on their hands. On the floor are sensors that, when stepped on, create different video effects. After pushing a button, music begins to play and the users can dance around and control the video effects with their feet. By using the hand sensors, it’s possible to create on-screen effects by waving them in front of the camera.
After creating a video (at this point, up to three minutes), users can scan a QR Code with their cell phones and immediately watch the video. Videos are also accessible via the web, and can easily be shared with anyone.
MYSQ is a perfect example of where the purikura culture is going, and, though simple, is well ahead of anything else out there.
Trend impact:
The possibilities are seemingly limitless when it comes to Videkura, as there are many elements that can be combined. On the surface we’re talking about short, shareable videos made with friends, but it becomes much more. Karaoke is another Japanese obsession that would segue into Videkura perfectly, with users being able to choose the soundtrack to their videos and sing/dance along. Whether transporting users to exotic locations via “green screen”, or providing them with easy post-production editing tools, Videkura cannot be simply a “video dancing room”, but a place to express yourself in ways that you can’t in a photograph.
Online video services such as YouTube are tearing up the internet now, and Videkura will be another major contributor to the content out there. Japanese blogs and web pages will be full of examples as well, with easy QR Codes to scan and access easily via mobile.
In the end, Videkura cannot replace Purikura because they will have different functions, but there is no doubt that Videkura will be big.
by Michael Keferl & Sven Kilian
