Daniel talks us through the reality behind some of the latest technologies grabbing the headlines in marketing circles and at conferences. It's always worth taking a look at gimmicks vs reality in digital marketing so you can gain a deeper insight into what is happening in between the headline-grabbing stories that are circulating. Artificial Intelligence and Machine learning Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning are often confused as the same thing, but actually, they refer to something much more straightforward than the Hollywood future vision of artificial intelligence that circulates in the movie story world. Daniel walks us through what these labels currently represent and why Machine learning is a much better description of the technologies currently being bought into play. We also explore some of interesting and also, sometimes dubious uses of this technology. Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality Virtual reality and augmented reality are another two technologies that are often lumped together and used interchangeably but again there is a clear distinction between the two technologies. Yet to be used in widespread marketing use, these techniques are starting to take off in the gaming world. Daniel explores some of the issues with the technology behind these technologies and looks to some of the implications that marketers need to start thinking about. These technologies look set to become mainstream with Augmented Reality leading the charge as operating systems begin supporting the development of the tech. Daniel talks through some examples of current platforms which we should look at in order to start thinking how we might make use of them in our marketing. QR codes Ciaran is a long time fan of the QR code which failed to take off as we all hoped they might. Ciaran explores some of the reasons why they failed and got such a bad reputation as well as some of the ways that some brands got them to work well. He lives in hope that one day the technology will come back, and who knows. Maybe it will. Useful Links Google Cardboard Blipper Snap tags Microsoft Hololens Chrome Experiments http://odem.chromeexperiments.com/