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Beacons are a tech hot topic - everyone's talking about 'em, but not everyone knows what they really are - or how they really work (and how you can apply that knowledge to your brand or business). At Techdept we spend a lot of time learning about new tech, and we've been playing with various beacon technologies for the last 6 months or so. We think there is a lot of potential for them - not just in retail, but in city centres, museums, galleries, festivals (see link below to one of our blog posts). Our CTO Rick Grundy has been leading the R&D activity, and has created this short simple presentation to explain just what the heck these things are! This was initially presented to the Media Lab team at NBC Universal in London, but we have subsequently been asked to present to other leading consumer brands. Anyway, we hope you enjoy - just tweet us with any Q's @Techdept To read some of our other thinking on Beacons: http://blog.techdept.co.uk/2014/01/beacon-technology-museums-gyms-events/
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A SHORT INTRODUCTION TO IBEACONS
By @richardgrundy
CTO of @Techdept
THE TECHNOLOGY OF THE MOMENT
ANOTHER PIECE OF THE JIGSAW
IN THE BEGINNING THERE WAS BLUETOOTH
POOR USER EXPERIENCES
BLUETOOTH EARNS A BAD NAME
BUT THEN CAME BLUETOOTH LOW ENERGY
WHY THIS CHANGES THINGS
Low power, simple devices now possible
Constant monitoring for signals with little drain on battery
Millions of devices already capable of sending & receiving the signals
Apple introduces iBeacon specification with iOS 7
ENOUGH ALREADY!WHAT IS AN IBEACON?
AN IBEACON IS SIMPLY A MARKER
SIMPLE HARDWARE &LONG BATTERY LIFE
THEY DO NOT TRANSMIT CONTENT!
THEY ARE TRIGGERS FOR APPS
YOUR APP DOES NOT HAVE TO BE RUNNING!
BUT IT DOES NEED TO BE INSTALLED.
YOUR APP CAN IGNORE IBEACONS
IBEACONS NOT AN APPLE PRODUCT
HERE COMES THE TECH BIT
THE IBEACON SIGNAL
Signal Parts Means Suggested Uses
UUID Unique ID One per app, brand or building
Major Group ID One per building, floor or room
Minor Device ID One per device
RSSI Signal Strength Used for distance calculations
DISTANCE CALCULATIONS
RSSI (Signal strength) is used
to calculate which distance
Four distance groups:
Unknown: over 30M
Far: within 30M
Near: within 2M
Immediate: within 0.5M
MICRO-LOCATION ISSUES
Theoretically capable of fine
grained location calculations.
In real world testing we
have found this to be less
than optimal.
WHICH PHONES CAN USE IT?
Apple: iPhone 5s, 5c, 5 & 4s
Samsung: Galaxy Series
Google: Nexus 5, Nexus 4
Sony: Xperia Series
Motorola: Droid RAZR, Ultra, Maxx, Mini, Moto G, X
HTC: One, One Max
HOW IBEACON APPS WORK
Can you keep a
lookout for this
iBeacon set even
if I am closed?
No problem. Will
let you know when
I see one of them.
Your app
Please show
the user this
message
Hey I just found
one! What do you
want to do?
OK, will do.
Your app
ALERT USER TO OPEN THE APP
USAGE SCENARIOS
Retail• Entry and exit events
• Micro-location based offers
• Customer tracking
• Voucher redemption
• Loyalty schemes
Museums and Art GalleriesAll Retail plus:
• Indoor location-based content and rich multimedia experiences
• Visitor journey analysis
Events• App based ticketing
• Way finding
Payment & More• Trigger app based payment
• Instant alerts etc.
Your app
I can see this
beacon What
should I do?
CMS DRIVEN APPS
Here is some
location specific
content to
show...
WHAT SHOULD WE LOOKOUT FOR?
Many users turn off Bluetooth to save power
Users will turn off notifications if you abuse them
Support older devices with GPS options when possible
It can take up to 4 minutes to detect a Beacon (although often it is instant)
Not all beacons are the same, testing is essential
Apple may want certified iBeacons to have a power source
There are issues with interference which affect distance calculations
FURTHER READING
http://beekn.net/2014/02/ibeacon-bluetooth-le-markers-digital-age/
http://blog.techdept.co.uk/2014/01/beacon-technology-museums-gyms-events/
http://beekn.net/guide-to-ibeacons/
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/innovations/wp/2014/01/07/how-ibeacons-could-change-the-world-forever/
https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/documentation/UserExperience/Conceptual/LocationAwarenessPG/RegionMonitoring/RegionMonitoring.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40009497-CH9-SW1
https://www.google.co.uk/search?sclient=psy&hl=en&site=&source=hp&q=iBeacons&btnG=Search
