Creating Distinguishable Magic

Famed British science fiction author, inventor, and futurist Arthur C. Clarke is quoted as saying, "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."

Fielding Graduate University

For the past four years, Pulse Point Media (formerly Pulse Point Marketing) has quietly been making magic. Working behind the scenes through social media, professional networking platforms, and 3D virtual worlds such as Second Life, our dedicated freelance team has developed some rather technically complex projects.  A few have been hailed as possessing functional brilliance or presenting as aesthetic masterpieces. 

We were fortunate in our early stages garnering visionary, progressive clients. Shortly after we incorporated, we were hired by the webmaster for Lexus to advertise and promote their virtual auto showroom.  The concept was simple, but the execution was innovative. Potential Lexus customers were invited into the virtual world to "test drive" and then select the features of the car they wished to purchase.

Our next client was a new regionally based non-profit seeking to explore social media as a means to generate donations and promote their cause. Donations began to poor in from all over the world. Over time, the organization evolved into a multi-faceted clearinghouse serving disadvantaged families in an area with an unemployment rate near 50%. Advancing from relative obscurity, the organization was recently thrust into the limelight when the founder was featured on a nationally-known talk show.

As our client portfolio grew, we began to garner the attention of universities seeking to enter Second Life. Over the course of the next couple of years, we worked on projects for Loyola Marymount University/LA, George Mason University, and Fielding Graduate University. 

Fielding Graduate University's campus in Second Life.

The technological aspects of these projects ranged wildly. One initiative involved creating an artificial intelligence to interact appropriately with human behavioral responses. Another sought to conduct and record research data that has appeared in a number of academic journals and been presented at international symposiums. On the more fanciful, yet practical teaching project, the virtual architecture can best be described as "Andy Worhol meets Paris" design and requires visitors to speak and text exclusively in the French language.

As a tight-knit development team, we celebrated our successes and learned from our iterations. We utilized aspects of test-driven-development or extreme programming due to short client deadlines and time constraints by some team members who also had "day jobs".  

We got better at streamlining our processes the more we gelled, but the turning point was a particular assignment on a project funded by a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant. Our client representative happened to be a department for the university's computer science department, and suggested a development methodology and communication approach based on Agile concepts. We made it all happen more quickly, like magic.

"Magic" became the name of the game. Literally. Many consider Second Life a game as opposed to a viable and productive platform, but our clients clearly saw things differently as they each presented us with their own very unique vision. One client shared that they had approached a high end California animation studio with specs and budget in hand. The studio, known for making their own special brand of magic, politely declined the university's project.

Each and every day we watch. Read. Pay attention. Like any good magician, we are ready to learn about the latest tricks of the trade. 

What does technology have in store for Pulse Point Media to create more distinguishable magic?