The Amazing BendDesk

Abstract

  This paper examines the new BendDesk product. It gives a brief synopsis of the product, what it does, and an analysis of the product media strategy. Afterwards, I explain how I would advertise the new BendDesk and explain my media strategies.

Keywords: BendDesk, vertical and horizontal surface, media, social networking, and advertising.

The Amazing BendDesk

After what seems like forever, a new type of computer screen is coming your way. It’s not a touchscreen, a 3-D screen, or a door screen. It’s a screen you’ve never seen before. It’s curved, it’s sleek, and it’s made for you. It’s the new BendDesk!

No doubt, this probably sounds like a bad advertisement for some fake product, but believe it or not, the “BendDesk” is actually a new product that landed the 17^th spot on Business Pundits 25 Most Promising Business Products for 2011 (Drea 2010). “BendDesk is a multi-touch desk environment that seamlessly combines a vertical and a horizontal surface with a curve into one large interactive workspace” (Weiss 2010). In other words, users can drag, manipulate, and display documents, photos, and videos without touching a single key or mouse click (Weiss 2010). By using two projectors and three-camera curved screens, a desk can go from ordinary to extraordinary. According to Business Pundit, “it’s like the upcoming Microsoft Surface tabletop computer, but cooler” (Drea 2010).  

Unlike a typical computer workplace which has a disconnect between its' digital content (vertical) and other input devices like a mouse and other content (horizontal), the BendDesk “merges a vertical and a horizontal multi-touch surface into one interactive surface using a curve” (BIG Ppl). This “provides a large interactive area within the user’s reach and allows uninterrupted, seamless dragging gestures across the entire surface” (Weiss, Voelker, Sutter, & Borchers, 2010). Since the BendDesk utilizes three different cameras at three different angles, the camera is able to detect motion at all angles allowing for “continuous tracking between areas” (Weiss, Voelker, Sutter, & Borchers, 2010). Even though the entire desk is a screen, one can still put paper, coffee, pens, and other normal desk items on it. This “allows continuous interaction between both areas” of work, digital and physical (Weiss, Voelker, Sutter, & Borchers, 2010).

To make the BendDesk more successful, the creators Simon Voelker, Malte Weiss, Jan Borchers, and Christine Sutter have teamed up with the Media Computing Group, to create a webpage specifically for Bend Desk. This page includes when and where this product has been covered in the news, a list of press releases, an explanation of what BendDesk actually is, its YouTube link, a list of publications it has been featured in and other related information. When one clicks on the “publications,” a thesis explaining how and why BendDesk was create, along with other details such as how it is set up, its’ benefits, and its’ overall evaluation.  “However, despite all the advantages, [BendDesk has] barely found [its] way into everyday workspaces” (Weiss, Voelker, Sutter, & Borchers, 2010). Hence, if I were to create a campaign for BendDesk, I would start with what many consider as the basics – making sure people understood what the BendDesk is.

As simple as it sounds, understanding is the key. If nobody knows what the product is, what it does, or why it is so revolutionary, nobody will care. Of course, this would involve simplifying the concept so that people will know that it is a matter of one screen, two projectors, and three cameras. This means that more information would have to be added to the YouTube video because all you see is person moving pictures and playing a videogame with some music (Aachen 2010). For the updated YouTube video, I would have a person explaining where you put your computer, how one transports photos and other digital documents to the screen and other relevant information. I would also have someone with their coffee mug, pens, and other non-digital items on the desk. I feel that if we say you can put your coffee on the desk, we ought to show people that we have done it first. After the BendDesk concept has been simplified, I would reach people by way of social networking and the media.

Right away, I would set up a Facebook and Twitter account for BendDesk. Initially, I would target “technology junkies” who crave knowledge about the next new thing in the technology world and then expand our audience target. One hundred friends one day, a few hundred re-tweets the next month, and suddenly, you have a BendDesk craze. This way, people would know what BendDesk is, why it is so amazing, and begin to know why they need one not merely from the local newspaper, but from their friends and followers. Once people became more familiar with the idea of a curve desk, I would begin advertising. Ads would be anywhere a future buyer could be found - the internet, television, radio, and everywhere else.

  Playing off of the idea of exclusivity, I would encourage the makers to give away a BendDesk to the top three people who could make the most creative commercial, advertisement, or logo for the BendDesk. This way, people are being told about the BendDesk without being “preached to” by the company. This should cause people to feel that this is a product by “the people” for “the people.” Once people feel this way, it is only a matter of time before companies, universities/colleges, secondary schools, and homes feel a need to have this product. By partnering with various communities (minorities, low-income, youths, etc.), BendDesk would be able to create a solid consumer base and a positive image.

  Obviously, making BendDesk is not a matter of a series of terrible brainwashing commercials and ads. Instead, it would involve: understanding of the product, advertising and social networking, and partnering with the community. This way, BendDesk would be in high demand and the company would have a loyal fan base for future products. By following these steps, within a matter of a few years, BendDesk would be in homes, schools, and offices all around the world. More importantly, it would be a well-known product as well as a profitable one.

References

Aachen, W. T. H. (Producer). (2010). BendDesk: multi-touch on a curved display [Web]. Available from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VNTPwVvLzE&feature =player _embedded

Drea, Initials. (2010, December 20). 25 most promising products for 2011. Retrieved from http://www.businesspundit.com/25-most-promising-products-for-2011/

Weiss, M. (2010, November 7). Benddesk. Retrieved from http://hci.rwth-aachen.de/benddesk

Weiss, M., Voelker, S., Sutter, C., & Borchers, Jan. (2010). Benddesk: dragging across the curve. Manuscript submitted for publication, Computer Science, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany. Retrieved from http://hci.rwthaachen.de/materials/ publications/ weiss2010d.pdf