The ethnographer, Siamack Salari, has announced the launch of EthOS (Ethnographic Observation System), a mobile app that allows brand owners to view how their products and services fit into consumers’ lives via video, pictures, text and audio captured using their smartphones.

Salari says the EthOS app is the first global ethnographic research tool to have been brought to the market. It is available on iPhone, BlackBerry and Android devices, can be used in any market, and is currently available  in 15 languages.

EthOS, which is already being trialled by a number of the world’s brands, allows brand owners to create projects and workspaces on the web and invite consumers using the app to upload video clips showing how products, brands and services fit into their lives. Consumers can accept invitations to projects via their devices, and tag and theme their captured events, allowing the sorting and filtering of large amounts of entries, as well as sharing via workspaces to facilitate collaboration, analysis and interpretation.

Salari, a director of EthOS, which developed the app, says: “Until now, ethnography, when conducted rigorously, has been a rather expensive and inaccessible tool. However, with the possibilities brought about by rapidly-changing technologies, we can now provide brands with an unprecedented richness and depth to consumer insight.

“The implications for the industry are huge, as we are now in a position to facilitate much more meaningful dialogues between brand owners and consumers. Dialogues that are instantaneous and rich, and will change the way large organisations interact with their consumers and employees.”

EthOS is currently offering the app on a free 30-day trial. There’s more information here.