We’re all still hopelessly in love with the fancy flip-through interface that started on iTunes and now lives on through the iPhone. Why? Well it just feels so intuitive doesn’t it? Hell, it’s as if we’re not even using technology at all, more flicking through the vintage jazz section at a tucked-away record store trying to find a hidden gem. Of course, this interface has spawned a whole array of pretenders but one that looks like it might have some mileage is Kronomy.

Xakasha launched late last year as a 3D timeline creation tool for chronicling your life–or anyone else’s life or series of events for that matter. Recently renamed Kronomy, it now dips into multiple social media sources in order to build a given timeline. What’s really interesting, if it takes off, is how it lays the foundations of an all singing, all visual CV, drawn from a variety of personal and professional sources, offering revolutionary insights into an individuals life. The tool could arguably be used to support the timeline of an organisation too, showing in purely visual terms, it’s essence and agenda as it grows and develops.

Kronomy is currently private beta but you can investigate it further by using this invite code: explorekronomy. Well worth a look.

There are quite a few fantastic advances in technology in the film Minority Report that would provide hours of mirth and fun, not to mention some genuine value. The sick-stick, the jetpack and those brilliant hover-ships that would doubtless be liable for extra c-charge costs but are mercifully easy to park. However, the one resounding image most of us took away from that movie was the highly evolved computer interface that Mr Cruise tames in order to manage information visually.

So far, a number of developers have tried to lay the foundations of visual search. But the latest one to catch my eye is Viewzi, which heralds itself as “a whole new way to experience search”. Yes, it’s prettier. And, yes, it’s more geared to those with more tread on the tyres of their right brain. But what’s really interesting about it is how it allows us get a little glimpse of something that could fundamentally up-end the way we navigate the digital landscape.

Recruiters take notice. This technology would allow a resourcer to shuffle, assess and recall candidate video like a deck of cards. It could be used to negotiate your way through a truly interactive CV, packed with narrative clips supporting an application. It would absolutely revolutionise training programmes. And that’s just the start. The only thing that’s holding it back, other than the costs of producing compelling digital video, is the colossal download rates you need to make it seamless. But one’s things for sure. It’s only a matter of time before these kinds of interfaces make it out of the minority and into the mainstream.

Whilst my last post mentioned how engagement’s going to be key to any organisation’s retention strategy throughout the credit crunch, Personnel Today has a particularly gloomy outlook for the coming months. It’s going to be difficult for HR teams not to be influenced by any firmwide knee-jerk reactions to the tightening belts of industry, especially when you consider that some of the more strategic employer brand projects that add genuine long term value are often the first to be withdrawn. Any thoughts?

At a recent visit to the Association of Graduate Recruiters conference, I was told about a fab little project on YouTube called Plain English, which explains digital innovations in a delightfully old-school mash-up of collages, complete with a tremendous American Open University style voice-over. It covers various phenomena, including Twitter and RSS et al. Well worth a look, if only to see just how quaint the world could be if only we remembered to pack scissors, glue and some pens.