Innovation

Innovation comes most often from trying to match your Inspirations up to the reality required for Implementation. It is where Creative Problem Solving is applied, and Lateral Thinking saves the day. Below is one of my favorite ideas that I am proud of, but did not reach implementation.

PlayStation EyeShare – Photo / Video Sharing

I was inspired to share my photos and videos of my family trip to Cancun with my Mom, who is as technophobic as they get. So how do I innovate around her user story to get to implementation? I thought if I could get her to just turn on her TV and PlayStation 3, I could send her images and video, plus some video narration to give it context and character.

In the video, my son and I narrate and share photos and videos, while my Mom sits back and enjoys the new media that will then reside locally on her PS3.

I made this demonstration prototype with my Skunkworks team at Sony Online Entertainment in April of 2009. A few months later, I was excited to learn about the Xbox 360 Kinect that was announced at E3. That encouraged me that I was on the right track. PS3 native applications aren’t in SOE’s wheelhouse, but I saw a need, created this with my team, and showed it to my boss, John Smedley, the President of SOE.