Mobile interactions
Nick Outram looks at the potential of the ‘Pixecode’ in bringing Internet commerce to mobile handsets, providing mobile operators with a new stream of revenue
Imagine today’s Internet without it’s clickable links. Well it’s impossible because the hyperlink is one of the most fundamental parts that make the Internet what it is: that key ability to freely jump to and access relevant information and services at the click of a button. Now imagine if the power of that linking ability could be applied to the everyday real world objects that surround us.
Firstly, let me give you a brief bit of historic background to put this idea in context. All great new media tend to be built upon media that has gone before; the television was a combination of radio and moving pictures, and in its turn radio was talking text. With convergence, the Internet is becoming the ultimate combination of all media types. By building upon what has gone before we learn to accept the new environment and gradually exploit the additional possibilities it offers. The linkages that form between the old and new can drive take-up and enhance both.
For example, a printed radio program guide provided in a newspaper helps drive newspaper sales and informs of radio content that users will listen to. However, when it comes to a mobile phone accessing the Internet, a problem currently exists. The problem of firing up that initial link is even greater than on the PC as there is no keyboard to quickly type text without a struggle. This problem is holding back people's access to a rich world of content, information and services because there is a missing and simple link between the real, day-to-day world we know and live in and the world of the Internet. What if we could easily link these worlds together? What if we could shatter the barrier between the static – but familiar – world of printed media and the dynamic new Internet world with all its possibilities? Imagine if information, product purchases and other services where just a single click away.
Let me introduce you to an idea I call a “Pixecode”.
The word “Pixecode” (short for Pixel Encoding or perhaps Pixel E-commerce Code – take your pick) is simply my own way of saying “a small two dimensional barcode”. Well it sounded better and was a lot more fun than the official words: “Datamatrix” or “PDF417”... The main point is that these visual barcodes are capable of packing a big information punch – in fact you can easily compress long and complex text strings into a tiny space. This makes them perfect for encapsulating URL sequences along with sub folders, extra reference data, etc. The code also packs a punch when it comes to error correction, so if your printing process is not 100 per cent and the code becomes smeared, skewed or not quite right it will still be usable. And of course, when compared to other technologies that might be used to provide similar functionality like RFID or other electronic methods, they are effectively free to mass-produce.
Take for example an Internet site that gives supplemental wine information. The Pixecode bitmap image is easily printed onto the wine label during the standard label print process. The mobile is now sufficiently capable to allow access to rich media and most have the three essentials needed to enable this usage: a camera acting as a 2D scanner, a browser client and a data connection. By framing the printed Pixecode image, taking a snapshot and letting the camera software decode it, a reference link is made available to a web page that can be browsed – the printed code acts as the access key to the new media world.
In the case shown above the online dynamic site could include more text about the grapes and soil of the vineyard in question, perhaps a short streamed video of the growers harvesting the wine that year and more about what makes this wine so special. When used in this way Pixecodes can help to inform and improve the value add of any product.
This is taking the idea of a data service to the next level by providing context sensitive, timely information and leveraging the key advantage of the mobile device -it's mobility. It goes beyond the mere bits and bytes that have claimed so much hype in recent years, whether it be Wifi, HSPDA, 3G, IMS, iMode, etc, etc. Put bluntly, most users couldn't give two hoots about how they get their information: they just want and need access to this richer environment while mobile here and now.
Another example: While out and about you spot a poster advertising the new Harry Potter book with the title “Buy the new Harry Potter from us now for only £9.99”. Down below, a Pixecode links directly to the vendor's online purchase page for this specific book. The user photographs the Pixecode, the browser fires up, a few seconds later the user's finger is hovering over the 'Purchase Now' button – impulse purchase – deal done. The fact that a user is potentially just a couple of clicks away from any purchase is itself a small wonder. Online Amazon 'One-Click' purchasing is so big they protect this process. With Pixecodes, Amazon – or a competitor – could easily begin to sell books via printed media, opening up the dis-intermediation benefits of online shopping to a whole new mass of consumers with mobiles: remember globally the mobile is the new PC, with much higher sales and potential audience.
There are dozens of uses of Pixecodes: how about © consumer data capture? A strawberry McDonalds shake cup has a Pixecode on it. “Click to enter free prize draw for a Florida holiday for 4!” says the enticing competition tagline. Within seconds their consumer database is enriched with information about the purchaser and their consumption habits. With adaptation of the encoded service code (the initial “http://” text) Pixecodes could be used to quickly dial numbers, upload contact and diary PIM information from printed business cards/event calendars or even encode the dreaded crazy frog ring tone as a printed bitmap. And then there's cashless vending and CEOs – Controllable Electronic Objects – but perhaps these uses are best left to an online presentation. (See Ref. 1 at the end for the link).
Vision to reality
So just what is needed to make this vision of mobile access to rich media a reality? From a technical to-do list point of view the answer is surprisingly little. All this stuff exists already as individual parts of the value chain. The hard part is in overcoming the chicken and egg situation, in “getting the first penguins into the water”. This situation exists as no one is printing these 2D codes on their products because there is no mass of mobile decoders available, which in turn is due to the fact that no one is printing the codes, etc.
How to start a data revolution:
• If you are a product producer – start printing these codes on your products now! Create a mini online information source then go and get a 2D code that links to it. They're free to create, (see Ref. 2 for a source of bitmap images). Remember: as the online version is dynamic you can update it over the years.
• If you are a mobile phone manufacturer investigate putting some decoder software onto your next mobile as a quickly accessible feature, perhaps an option in the cameras 'what do you want to do with this picture?' menu (e.g. “send to browser”) – or provide the feature as a download for existing phones. Camera lenses with inbuilt macro capability work best as they allow focusing at shorter distances, although this is not strictly required. For experimentation, a java decoder can be bought and downloaded from the website at Ref. 3. There are many companies that can provide source for decoders or make your own, the specifications for the coding and decoding of these codes are all standardised and freely available.
• If you make mobile phone clients, especially browsers (e.g. OpenWave), consider making an easy imager/decoder button part of your one-click user interface. May I suggest a Pixecode as the button icon graphic?
• If you are a mobile operator, start a small pilot project that provides the whole value chain, and study if user behaviour is positive towards this method of mobile usage. At the same time calculate the data service revenues that widespread mass adoption of this access method could generate. Consider the additional revenues from becoming a 'referral conduit for instant m-commerce purchases' and thus taking a small percentage of any products purchase price in Visa style. Mobile operators fear becoming simply used as data pipes – this is one possible way to have their cake and eat it.
All the technology components exist to do this today, so we are almost there. With a little nudge in the right direction, this little thing called a Pixecode could become the next big thing. It's not a service, true, it's more than that: it's the missing link that can help to bind the physical world to the virtual world and greatly increase the value of both to all of us. n
References:
1. Pixecode presentation: www.pixecode.com
2. Datamatrix download: www.idautomation.com
3. Decoder download: www.semacode.com
Nick Outram is a Management Consultant specialising in the Telecommunication Sector and currently works at Sopra Group UK. He can be contacted at noutram@sopragroup.com
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