Imagine you walk into a dealership to take a test drive. The salesperson walks you to the car and hands you the keys. You get into the car and he hands you a watch to wear during the test drive. You put it on and it vibrates twice on your wrist. He smiles and tells you not to worry. He then directs you to hit “Start” on the watch. The car roars to life and you feel your heart race a little. You pull out of the lot and the salesperson informs you that he has a special road to take you on that will really give you a feel for the car.
“THE SMART WATCH ON YOUR WRIST IS ACTUALLY MEASURING ALL THESE BIOMETRIC READOUTS FOR YOUR LEVELS OF EXCITEMENT. IT’S EXHILARATION, QUANTIFIED.”
The road in question really is an exciting one. You can feel the car hugging the corners as you make your way down through the winding course. You feel the goosebumps on your arms as the road opens up and you are directed to hit the throttle and let it loose.
Little do you know that during this trip, the smart watch on your wrist is actually measuring all of these biometric readings, calculating a readout for your levels of excitement. It’s exhilaration, quantified.
You return to the dealership and exit the car, wiping the beads of sweat off your brow. Inside, the salesperson takes back the watch as you sit down at the desk. He places an iPad in front of you. On it is an interactive data visualization about all of the parts of your drive: speed, turns, time, acceleration, heart rate. He moves the slider and shows how your heart rate changed at different points of the drive. “You got really excited during this hairpin turn! This is where our car’s all-wheel drive and smart acceleration are really handy.”
Once you go through the data of your drive, the salesperson taps to the “Art” tab. This is where it gets interesting. All of the data you have just been looking at has been turned into a beautiful, abstract piece of art. The salesperson shows you how a line in the art is more exaggerated in certain spots relative to how fast you were driving at that time. Or how the size of the main circle is larger based on your heart rate. There are several styles of art that you can flip through to choose which one is your favorite.
Once you’ve chosen a piece of art, the salesperson hits “save” and you chat for a while longer about the car and the drive. A week later, a package arrives for you in the mail that contains the generative art piece that was created from the test drive data. Obviously, you go buy the car at this point. You love the print so much that while you’re there, you get the other art styles printed to hang in your garage.
Also, because you’re now an owner, you have access to the app that allows you to create a visualization any time you want. Going on a family road trip? Hit start when you leave, and stop when you get back. The app will create a piece of art that represents your entire trip!
This is just a small example of the power of biometrics, and companies are only just starting to figure out how to harness this power to elevate their brand.