1. CURIOSITY STOP
MAY 2015

2. CURIOSITY STOP
Innovation is driven by curious minds and We Are Social has a global team of
inquisitive brains who are passionate about seeking out originative things
happening in the world of tech, content, culture and business.
We’re all moving at the speed of light, so it’s nice to get information in one spot,
and we believe that people (not machines) are the ones qualified to curate the
content that matters most.
So with this in mind, we’ve created ‘Curiosity Stop’ - a monthly snackable report
of all things innovative, aimed to interest, inform, and above all, inspire.

3. Does it make something
better, faster, cheaper, happier?
Does it make you smile?
Is it truly innovative?
Is it disruptive?
THE CURATION CHECKLIST

4. 1
Technology
2
Retail
4
Publishing
3
Internet of
Things
5
Electronics
6
Apps
7
Automotive
8
Food
9
Home &
Personal Care
10
FMCG
11
Sport
12
IT/ Infrastructure
13
Alcohol
14
Finance
15
Travel
16
Hospitality
18
Fashion
17
Luxury
CONTENTS

5. Eye Tracker
Eye Tracker’s ‘Tobii EyeX’ development kit is
now available.
This gives shop window displays and
adverts new possibilities, as they will be
able to react to passers-by.
Microsoft’s Intelligent Scarf
Microsoft Research showcased an intelligent scarf
at the Stanford University. The scarf can connect
via an app with Bluetooth, vibrates and
heats up.
In the future they want the scarf to react to
biometric data so it can scan negative emotions
and reactively give comfort.
360° live-streaming on YouTube
Together with Giroptic, Youtube now
makes it possible to upload and
livestream 360° videos.
This gives brands and agencies new
opportunities for product staging and
makes 360° videos available to a
broader audience.
TECHNOLOGY ESTHER UHL
1

6. Burger King Relives the Pinch
Burger King lifted the spirits of Malaysians
feeling the pinch by offering price discounts
on popular food items according to the
physical weight of customers’ wallets.
Customers weighed their purse or wallet at
promotional scales located at the front of
the restaurant to get their voucher. Heavier
wallets received free drinks or fries, whereas
lighter wallets earned more generous deals.
Participating outlets enjoyed a 20% increase
in traffic over the three-day campaign.
KFC’s Edible Cups
KFC has unveiled its newest product: an
edible coffee cup.
The cup, named the 'Scoff-ee Cup' is made
from biscuit, wrapped in sugar paper and
then lined with a layer of heat-resistant
white chocolate to keep the coffee hot and
the cup crispy.
Once the chocolate lining melts over time,
the biscuit begins to soften causing it to melt
in your mouth.
Denmark’s First Free Supermarket
Customers have to register online before going
to the store and ‘shopping’ for whatever they
need or fancy, with a limit of ten items per
month. They must then try them out and review
them, which they have to do within a certain
timeframe, or else they’ll be fined.
The Freemarket will also charge shoppers 19
kroner (roughly £2 or $3.40) a month to cover
physical operation costs.
RHODA SELL
RETAIL
2

7. Smarter Coffee
Billed as "the world’s first bean to cup, Wi-
Fi-enabled coffee machine," Smarter
Coffee lets you brew your perfect cup of
coffee from your smartphone or tablet.
The Smarter app controls the grinding of
beans, coffee strength and how many cups
to make, then wakes you when your coffee
is ready and keeps it warm for 20-minutes.
Hello Barbie
Looks like Siri has some new competition.
Toymaker Mattel has unveiled a high-tech Barbie,
so not only will your child be able to dress her up
and talk to her, but the doll is now able to
respond thanks to Wi-Fi and voice recognition
technology.
It can listen to your child, record its words, send
them over the Internet for processing, talk back,
then email you, as a parent, highlighting your
youngster's conversations with the toy.
Office Activity in Real-Time
Do you know how many times the toilet in your office
has been flushed today? How many sheets of paper
your co-workers have printed this month? You do if
you work at Sid Lee Paris. The design agency has
created an online dashboard that collects mostly
useless tidbits of data from around the office.
The agency describes the project as a design exercise
in “real-time (un)interesting data”, saying the goal was
to take boring data and present it in an engaging
way. The data is collected through Arduino sensors
and reported to the web.
INTERNET OF THINGSROBERT WAINMAN
3

8. Virtual Currency
Tradio is the name given to a type of talk radio
show format where listeners call in to buy or sell
items. The service, which launched publicly,
uses a system of virtual coins. You start with a
cache of currency to invest in songs. You earn
more as you complete missions – short tasks
like ‘listen to two hip-hop songs’ – and
challenges – such as ‘invest in 10 songs’.
Watch me Date
The Guardian has launched a new way of
dating. Each week, they choose two different
people, give them two pairs of Google Glass and
pack them off on a date (there is usually a lot of
alcohol involved too). Filming begins the minute
they meet, and that off-button is only pressed
once they’ve said goodbye. The results? You’re
right there with them, on these awkward, often
funny and sometimes even romantic first dates.
A Tank Made of Books
In celebration of World Book Day, 7UP teamed up with
Buenos Aires-based artist Raul Lemesoff to create
‘Weapons of Mass Instruction’, a traveling library that
tours Argentina in the shape of a tank.
PUBLISHING TOM OLLERTON
4

9. pplkpr
Tech-loving US artists Lauren McCarthy and
Kyle McDonald have invented an app named
pplkpr. Which shows you, via digital
wristbands which of your social contacts
make you happy, angry or nervous.
Mogees Turn Objects into Instruments
Mogees is a novel technology that turns
physical objects into unique musical
instruments by converting the vibrations we
make when we touch them into sound.
The Mogees sensor is combined with a
mobile app that detects and analyses the
acoustic properties of physical objects and
augments them into music.
‘Imagination Machine' Turns Brains Into Game
Tellart set up a game controlled by users minds in a
shopping mall. Passers-by were asked what their
dream holiday destination was and tasked with
guiding a virtual plane to it with the power of their
imagination.
A headset monitored concentration levels of the
user, and the more focused they were on their
destination the more exact the plane followed the
flight path.
ELECTRONICS MATT PAYNE
5

10. Pocket Points Rewards Students for
Not Using Their Phone
Students can earn free food and
discounts by not using their phone in
class. The Pocket Points app recognises
when a phone is in a classroom. To earn
points students have to open the app at
the start of class and then lock their
phone. The longer the phone is locked,
the more points they accumulate.
BBC Puts Your Life in Context
The BBC has invented a web-app that allows you
take a look at your life by putting your Facebook
profile in context with current affairs. They use
their archives to match with your information. So,
for example, you could get information about the
song that was top 10 the day you were born.
GUM turns barcodes into social pinboards
Got something to say about the drink you’re
having or the shoes you just bought? Gum is a new
app, which allows you to attach digital messages
to barcodes, turning physical things into social
pinboards.
By simply scanning the bar code you can add your
message and read all the messages that have
already been tagged by others.
APPS ESTHER UHL
6

11. Electricity-Generating Tires
What if your car could be powered where
the rubber meets the road? Goodyear has
announced its concept for a heat-
gathering, electricity-generating tire at the
2015 Geneva International Auto Show, and
the tire could change the face of electric
cars by charging them quicker.
3D Printed Cars
The 3D printed car revolution is here.
Showcasing the power of co-creation and micro
manufacturing, the Local Motors Strati struts its
stuff on the NAIAS floor from January 12 - 25. Be
one of the first to own an electric-powered 3D-
printed car from Factory of the Future™.
Reflective Cycling Paint
LifePaint is a unique reflective safety spray
aimed at increasing the visibility and safety of
cyclists, and other vulnerable road users.
Invisible by day, it glows brightly in the glare of
car headlights, so cyclists are visible at night.
NICK DODD
AUTOMOTIVE
7

12. IKEA’s Concept Kitchen
The Swedish furniture giant has launched
Concept Kitchen 2025, their vision of the
future. It includes an ordinary-looking table,
which, in fact has built-in sensors designed
to weigh ingredients, suggest recipes and
offer food tutorials. It also includes touch-
sensitive cooking equipment.
The Environmental Pizza Box
GreenBox is a fully recycled pizza box designed with the
environment in mind. The lid of the box can be easily
torn up into four pieces, which function as plates, and
the base then transforms into a container for leftovers.
Pepper Hacker Turns Off Technology
Dolmio (Australia) has launched a new
campaign called Pepper Hacker, designed to
reclaim family dinnertime from technology.
As well as adding seasoning to a dish, one
twist of the Pepper Hacker powers down
TVs, shuts off Wi-Fi and closes mobile apps
for 30-minutes, taking away dinnertime
distractions.
FOOD CHARLOTTE MILLER
8

13. A Revolutionary Toothbrush
Although this product may look suspiciously
like a sex toy, it is in fact an all-silicone
toothbrush, created by Sweden-based
company Foreo. The toothbrush works for as
long as a year on a single charge, and bends
easily so you have access to all the nooks and
crannies in your mouth. The head only has to
be replaced yearly too—a win for those
annoyed by the high price of new brush
heads.
Toothpaste Start-Up Could Redefine
Dental Care
A Silicon Valley startup has created a new
tooth gel, which they claim is more than
twice as effective as traditional toothpaste.
Livionex claims to attack bacteria at the
molecular level, making it harder for it to
stick to our teeth. After three-weeks,
subjects who used Livionex had 2.5 times
less plaque than ordinary toothpaste users.
Amazon Dash Button
Amazon is testing a new service that allows its
customers to instantly order some household items.
The buttons have an adhesive stick at the back and
can be mounted close to where a customer is likely to
realise that a given product is running low - for
example on a washing machine for laundry detergent.
By pushing the button, the customer alerts Amazon’s
systems through Wi-Fi and Amazon delivers the
product within a couple of days. The service is only
available currently in the US.
SOPHIE FITZGERALDHOME & PERSONAL CARE
9

14. Hellmann’s £15M Campaign
Hellmann’s is launching a new £15m
campaign, taking its slogan from a Facebook
fan comment. The brand has used a Facebook
post from a fan posted earlier this year, which
proclaimed the brand’s mayonnaise was “One
Of The Greatest Things Ever Created”.
The ad shows the Facebook post, which
sparked the activity. It ends on the tagline:
“The greatest thing ever created. Apparently.”
The Perfect Alarm Clock?
The hacks at the Artefact Group have created
an alarm clock that can order a Pizza to your
door. Those who want to use the services
have to set it up by inputting their credit card,
delivery info, and the toppings and
specifications of their regular pizzas.
Once set-up, you can order your pizza with
just a turn of a knob. Not surprisingly, the
clock is a bit of an overachiever. In addition to
ordering your pizza, it gives you a countdown
of how long it will take for it to be made.
Absolut vodka gets Punchdrunk
Punchdrunk is usually responsible for interactive
theatre productions. Now though, it’s revealing the
results of a far more intricate project, an Andy
Warhol-inspired app. The app, Silverpoint, was
developed as a collaboration with Absolut vodka, and
is based on Warhol’s blotted-line drawings. Just as
participants in Punchdrunk shows meander through
various scraps of narrative and interaction, users of
the app gradually work through snippets of
information to work out a mystery. The game, has
used a combination of technologies including
iBeacon and has been described as an experiment in
fusing digital and real world experiences.
FMCG LUKE CARRELL
10

15. The World’s Coolest Basketball Court?
Nike’s Jordan brand has devised an immersive, genre-
bending installation called ‘The Last Shot’ to
commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Air Jordan
which is like a video game augmenting real-life.
When you step inside: you find yourself on a
basketball half-court. At first, the walls around you are
white but then those walls come to life, and a realistic-
looking crowd surrounds you - because the walls are
actually massive LED displays.
Data Not Humans Run Danish Football Club
FC Midtjylland is not just a football club. It’s a
laboratory for a radical experiment. The
experiment — outlined by their chairman
Rasmus Ankersen is to test the thesis that you
can run a football club based on statistical
analysis; stamping out emotional decision-
making and replacing it with the scientific
method, and by doing so, you can give a small
club a competitive edge over its richer
opponents. This is radical stuff in the game that
the New York Times dubbed the least statistical
of all major sports.
Which Premier League Club Has The Most
Followers?
If you think you know where Premiere League
football fans are located, you may be surprised by
our new Twitter fan map, which shows a detailed
global breakdown of the followers of all 20 clubs.
The map was created by looking at the official
Twitter accounts for each team, using their
followers as an indicator of allegiance (as
opposed to, say, instances in which people
mention a team whilst watching an interesting
matchup or talking about a team’s rival).
SPORT DAN SANTORO
11

16. A Power Cable Which Can’t Shock
The International Safety and Development (ISD) has
devised a socket that can tell the difference between a
finger and a plug. Each Brio features two outlet points
and fits into a wall like a standard power outlet. Brio's
default state is off though, so no electricity will flow out
of it unless the unit detects that an electrical device is
plugged-in, and not a tiny human's fingers, or a fork.
According to the creators, when its embedded sensor
detects a valid plug, Brio enters a 24 V sensing mode to
look for the correct level of resistance. Once the
onboard microprocessor gives the OK, Brio then lets
120 V flow to the appliance.
DHL Delivers To Audi’s
Audi have announced it will be teaming up with
Amazon and DHL to run a pilot scheme to make
parcel deliveries to an Audi owner's boot. The idea
is that if a delivery person tries to leave a package
at a person's home, there's a good chance the
recipient won't be there and the package will have
to go back to the processing facility. If the delivery
person tries to take a package to a person's car,
they can use keyless access to it and leave it there
securely.
The pilot is only open to people who live in Munich,
have Audis, and are Amazon Prime members.
Amazon Floating On A Cloud
For the first time ever, Amazon has
disclosed financials for its cloud computing
operation, Amazon Web Services, and Wall
Street was shocked to discover that it's
pulling in about $6 billion per year.
This gives concrete proof that they are, by at
least one measure, the biggest cloud
computing infrastructure player of all.
IT/INFRASTRUCTURE
TOBIAS CRAGG
12

17. Powdered Alcohol Allowed In US
A powdered form of alcohol called Palcohol is
now approved for sale in the United States. So
far there has been approval to sell four flavours:
vodka, rum, cosmopolitan and Powderita
(margarita). When a packet of Palcohol is mixed
with 177 ml of water, the resulting drink has the
same alcohol content as a standard mixed drink,
the company says. Palcohol's maker expects to
begin selling the product this summer.
Beer Bottles Unlock Movies With A Tap
Grolsch Brewery is offering customers an additional
incentive when they buy a beer: a free at-home
movie, paid for by tapping the beer bottle on any
device. App developers Heads and Hands created
the new campaign as a way to streamline promo
offers; instead of requiring customers to enter a
code to redeem a free movie, each bottle is capable
of unlocking a movie with just a tap. The bottles are
equipped with Bluetooth beacon technology, that
enable the user to pay for a movie on any device
with a simple tap.
Carlsberg’s Billboard Gives Out Free Beer
Carlsberg have made what they claim is
“Probably the Best Poster in the World” by
turning it into a working beer tap.
The Danish brewer unveiled a beer-dispensing
billboard at The Old Truman Brewery, London.
Carlsberg is planning two more publicity stunts
for later this year, in addition to wider
advertising and sponsorships.
ALCOHOL HANNAH JONES
13

18. Barclays Code Playground
Barclays has launched a website to teach
children about coding as part of ongoing plans
to increase digital skills among its customers.
The Code Playground website provides an
introduction to basic programming skills, as well
as allowing customers to book a teaching
session in a branch with one of Barclays 12,000
‘Digital Eagles’ staff.
The service is also aimed at encouraging
parents and grandparents to expand their
knowledge of digital technology.
Apple Pay On Apple Watch
Apple Watch owners will be able to use their
devices to pay with a tap for everyday
purchases. Apple Pay pulls your credit cards,
debit cards, and other sensitive-payment data
from the Passbook app, enabling you to use an
iPhone 6 or Apple Watch as a wallet at store
checkouts.
It’s launched in the US, and is expected to
launch in the UK soon but negotiations are
being described as "tricky", with at least one of
Britain's biggest banks fearing an ‘invasion’ of
the banking industry and feeling
uncomfortable about sharing too much
information with Apple.
VISA Uses Cloud For Payments
Nine Polish banks have confirmed plans to
commercially launch mobile contactless
payments using Visa's Host Card Emulation
technology from early next year.
Banks are planning on rolling out services
utilising Visa’s Cloud-based Payment
specifications, enabling customers with
payment apps utilising HCE functionality to
make contactless payments using an NFC-
enabled Android smartphone.
FINANCE YUSH KALIA
14

19. Agency Aims To Help Teens Overcome
Differences In Language
Smartphone app called UniVoca has been
designed to help people, particularly teens, with
the differences in language between North and
South Korea.
DreamTouchForAll, a non-profit education
organisation, helped to develop the app which
works like a digital dictionary. It includes 3,600
words used in Korean language textbooks for
high school students. When a user scans an
unfamiliar word with a smartphone, the
translated text appears.
Snakes and Fountains
Remember all those hours you used to while away
playing Snake on your Nokia 3210? Londoners can
now relive that frustration on a much grander and
public scale.
If you download the Granary Squirt app, the fountains
in Kings Cross' Granary Square turn into a big game
of Snake. Players control the lights in the fountains by
tilting their phones, which sends the snake in various
directions.
The game was designed by the same team behind the
fountains at King's Cross.
Intelligent Power Outlets
While airlines work to install more power
outlets on airplanes, technology is working
to make those outlets smarter. BAE
Systems introduced their ‘IntelliCabin’
technology, which features power outlets
that are able to sense your gadget’s power
need and adjust the charge accordingly.
This means that your phone, at 15 percent
battery, will charge faster than your
seatmate’s, at 80 percent.
TRAVEL FLORENCE OSPICI
15

20. Humanoid Hotel
Scheduled to open in July, the Henn-na Hotel
in Japan will be staffed by several, humanoid
robots that will do everything from greeting
guests, completing the check-in process,
carrying bags to the guest’s room and
general housekeeping duties.
The robots are able to respond to the guest’s
body language, and can also converse in
English, Japanese, Chinese and Korean.
No Man’s Fort
A converted sea fort in the Solent has been
converted into a unique hotel. No Man's Fort was
built between 1865-1880, and was designed to
protect Portsmouth from attack.
Since the fort is no longer used in active defence,
the once impenetrable island has been
transformed into a luxury hotel and invites
intruders to its sanctuary all-year round.
Pokémon Hotel Adventure
The Peninsula Tokyo has launched a unique
accommodation plan called the Pokémon Hotel
Adventure: The Power of Ten. Using advanced
optics technology to create an augmented
experience, guests are encouraged to don a
Pikachu hat and set forth on the fun and
imaginative quest to seek out various interactive
Pokémon characters hiding throughout the hotel.
SOPHIE FITZGERALD
HOSPITALITY
16

21. Veuve Clicquot on Tumblr
The luxury Champagne brand has launched
on Tumblr. The page features both a user-
generated content section as well as an
assortment of hashtags that categorises the
images uploaded to the page.
In addition, the brand has incorporated an
ecommerce link to its Tumblr page. At the
bottom of Veuve Clicquot’s Tumblr’s page,
followers can easily access a link to
purchase products they’ve seen in photos.
Tag Heuer To Release Luxury Smartwatch
Tag Heuer plans to release a smartwatch using
Google’s Android operating system in
conjunction with chipmaker Intel, to compete
head-on with the Apple Watch.
With Apple Watch hitting the market it’s no
longer viable for Swiss watchmakers to bury
their heads in the sand. Now Tag Heuer has
signalled its intention to enter the smartwatch
market it is certain others will follow.
Four Season’s Launches First Fully-Branded
Private Jet
Four Seasons hotel group has revealed that its
guests would have new means of travelling from
one of its properties to another, by announcing
that it’s launching the industry’s first fully
branded private jet.
Each Four Seasons flight will only accommodate
52 passengers and comes with its own executive
chef, sous chef, guest services manager, and an
in-flight concierge to cater for all their needs.
LUXURY FRANKIE HOLLOWAY
17

22. Anti-Paparazzi Hoodie
Design company Betabrand, known for its
wearable-tech clothing innovations, has
come out with a hoodie called the Flashback
Photobomber. The hoodie lives up to its
name thanks to its ‘glass nanosphere’ coating
that creates a reflective effect when light hits
it. According to Betabrand, the Flashback's
wearable tech,"turns ordinary iPhone images
into thermonuclear photobombs."
Intel Ensures Your Personal Space Is Protected
Fashion designer Anouk Wipprecht has created
the Spider Dress in conjunction with Intel. The 3-D
printed ensemble has robotic spider legs
surrounding the collar and is powered by Intel
Edison technology. Proximity sensors and
biometric signals measure your stress levels and
infer when someone gets a little too close for
comfort. In response, the legs shoot forward in a
territorial attack.
The Clever Shoe That Grows Five Sizes
American inventor and philanthropist Kenton
Lee has designed expandable shoes for
children living in extreme poverty in Africa.
Nearly, 300 million children around the world
have no shoes to wear and due to the lack of
proper footwear, many of them are injured or
infected by soil-transmitted parasites and
diseases. The Shoe That Grows promises to last
up to five years, and feature flexible
compressed rubber soles and adjustable
leather straps that wrap the feet. The size of the
shoes can be adjusted in three places to cope
with the demands of growing feet.
FASHION JENNI SMIT
18

23. TECHNOLOGY
YouTube’s 360 live streaming
Microsoft’s Intelligent Scarf
Eye Tracker Tobii EyeX
AUTOMOTIVE
3D Printed Cars
Goodyear’s electricity-
generating tires
Lifepaint
RETAIL
Burger King rewards
KFC edible cups
Freemarket
INTERNET OF THINGS
Smarter Coffee
Mattel Hello Barbie
Sid Lee Paris
PUBLISHING
Weapons of Mass Instruction
Tradio
Guardian’s Watch Me Date
ELECTRONICS
Mogees
W+K Amsterdam S7 Airlines
pplkpr
APPS
BBC Your Story
Pocket Points
Gum
FOOD
IKEA Concept Kitchen
GreenBox
Dolmio Pepper Hacker
HOME & PERSONAL CARE
Livionex
Foreo
Amazon Dash Button
FMCG
Dominos Pizza Alarm Clock
Hellman’s
Punchdrunk and Absolut
SPORT
The Last Shot
FC Midtjylland
Premier League on Twitter
IT/INFRASTRUCTURE
Brio
DHL/Audi/Amazon
Amazon’s Cloud
ALCOHOL
Palcohol
Grolsch
Carlsberg
FINANCE
Barclays
Apple Watch
VISA Cloud
TRAVEL
UniVoca
Granary Squirt
IntelliCabin
HOSPITALITY
Henn-na Hotel
No Man’s Fort
Pokemon Hotel
LUXURY
Veuve Clicquot
Tag Heuer
Four Seasons
FASHION
Betabrand
Intel
The Shoe That Grows