These days, it’s harder than ever before to grab the attention of consumers. Well-produced commercials and clever ads are no longer enough to poke the interest of the majority of people, at least not in the way advertisers would like. It’s time to move on to something else entirely – something that will spawn genuine interest and wonder. What can that possibly be? The mannequin dolls in the store windows don’t supply us with the enough oomph to spark an interest to go into those stores anymore.
Maybe that’s why some people, quite creatively I might add, tried to come up with something entirely different. Maybe you remember my article about the Like Hangers a while ago. They are the clothes hangers that incorporate Facebook likes into them based on what people think about each clothing item online. Things like this have always made people become interested in participating in the marketing of whatever is being sold. Well, they do so without knowing it that is. When a group of people gathers outside a store, more people will gather because they are interested in seeing what is going on. That’s viral marketing right there, but in real life.
I guess that is why the freaky mannequin doll in the store window of United Arrows, a Japanese clothing store, mimics your every move. It simply grabs your attention as soon as you walk by. The mechanics used to make this mannequin doll behave just like you are a mixture of analog and digital technology. By using a Kinect, it tracks people’s movements and mimics it precisely, sometimes even a little bit too close for comfort.
I mean, watching a mannequin doll come to life is not exactly the most ordinary of visuals, if you know what I mean, especially after having seen so many horror movies involving mannequin dolls throughout the years. There’s no doubt that this thing sparks a whole lot of interest, but it has also most likely spawned a whole lot more profitability since it was installed. One thing can be said about it though, this mannequin certainly is freaky.