Have you ever thought about what exactly is a selfie? Of course, we all know it’s a photo you make of yourself. But is there something more? Can a selfie become more than just a snapshot for remembering the moments or fishing for comments? A research from Sony Mobile shows that selfies might become much more than they are now. They may become applicable in banking, shopping, healthcare and many other situations. Sony Mobile and Futurizon conducted a research and surveyed 6,500 European consumers in the UK, France, Germany and Spain. The results show that the consumers are ready to embrace a selfie as a tool in plenty of situations. They see a “vast number of potential applications” of selfies in the next five years.
Michio Maruhashi, Marketing Strategy at Sony Mobile, explains that the company has have always seen photography as a key function at the heart of the smartphone. Their phone cameras keep advancing, so they were interested in finding out if consumers are ready to embrace selfies as a tool for various uses. Futurologist Dr Ian Pearson worked with Sony Mobile to explore a number of sectors where selfies could be used in near future. The results were different, from comical to serious and safety-oriented. For example, over one third of consumers would feel more secure if banks used selfies as passwords. Sony Mobile has issued a report with the survey results, and these are the ten top ways consumers believe the selfies may evolve in the next five years: 1.Dating: This implies taking a selfie with your date to find out what they really think. You could do it by observing the signs such as their pupil dilatation or body language. I think paying attention to their body language while you talk to him or her, without taking the selfie, would be more helpful. But that’s just me. 2. Medical: Over a quarter of people in the survey would prefer to see their general practitioner via a selfie or video call, in the first instance. The Sony’s report states that medical AI (Artificial Intelligence) can even diagnose plenty of conditions remotely, by observing the patients and listening to them explaining their symptoms. And I couldn’t agree more with this application of selfies. If this ever comes to life, I promise, I’ll finally start using that front camera.
