Corning Hopes For Another Viral Hit With Sequel To Its 'A Day Made Of Glass' Video

A 160-year-old glass company. A six-minute video produced for an annual investor meeting. It was an unlikely recipe for a viral YouTube hit, but

 Buoyed by the reception to the first video, on Friday

Move up Move down

The sequel also includes more contextual information. While the first video offered little explanation about what viewers were seeing, the sequel serves up a lot of commentary — arguably too much — about the pictured technologies and how likely they are to come to market.

The interjections can be bothersome as, more often than not, the narrator informs viewers the cool technology just shown is ‘doable’ in some form, but not yet affordable or at manufacturing scale. Fortunately, the sequel also comes in a non-narrated version that more closely resembles the whimsical first video.

At a preview event on Thursday night in

That was essentially what happened last year. Corning executives said inquiries poured in as people clamored to learn more about the smart bathroom mirrors, car consoles and bus stop displays depicted in the 2011 video. Even the Navy called to ask about getting wall-sized, interactive displays for its offices. The video “sparked conversations about what Corning and other companies could do together,” said Jeff Evenson, Corning’s senior vice president.

The videos are also designed to cheer investors. Price declines for LCD glass hit Corning hard in

While many parts of both videos may seem mere fantasy, Corning says everything depicted is being developed in some form in its research and development labs. Evenson said he has discussed all the technologies with at least one Corning partner in the past six months.

Certain implementations are closer to fruition than others. The Turkish government has ordered a number of interactive white boards similar to the ones shown in the sequel video. The large-scale video walls, in contrast, have been shown at trade shows and in demonstrations but “need economic justification” to be built, conceded Corning Chief Technology Officer Pete Bocko.

“The fastest growth [for Corning] in the short-term will come from touchscreens for electronic devices,” confirmed Flaws. “The question is whether we can get the cost down for these larger implementations.”

The videos are designed to show a broad range of Corning glass. (The first video identifies 17 different types, from all-weather surface glass to 3D TV display glass.) Some applications, such as the glass tablets, classroom smart board and multi-touch table and the interactive glass wall in the park, would be made out of Corning’s durable