• by Mark Walsh  @markfwal, August 26, 2010

In a morning panel on mobile trends and change agents, Mike Bloxham, who leads Ball State's media lab, expressed guarded optimism about the much-hyped technology of  augmented reality, which he believes marketers or merchants will be able to use to make certain types of offers to elicit certain interactions, though he was admittedly hazy on the details. Anything besides scanning a QR code to see the completed 3D version of a Lego model?

But Bloxham pointed out that however mobile marketing technology and use develops, two key issues will be the user context and privacy. For mobile, "battery life is the white elephant in the room" he pointed. (Oh, there it is, I see it now. ) He points out that the TV, which never has any power-draining issues, is the standard consumers use for judging other platforms. Bloxham also say privacy legislation is coming and it's something marketers should get out in front of by focusing on opt-in rather than opt-out as a standard for programs.

"If you don't think people will opt in, you're making the wrong offer," he said.