Beacon Technology Nepal | Beacon tech for grain harvesters helps protect crops

Source    : computerworld
By        : Matt Hamblen
Category  :  Beacon Technology, Bluetooth Beacon 

Bluetooth Low Energy beacon technology hasn’t caught on as fast as expected, but that hasn't stopped companies from rolling out applications that use it. One such app is the Fliegl Tracker from a German company that makes harvesters and other farming equipment.

Fliegl, based in Muhldorf in the Bavaria region of Germany, showed off its $25 beacon and sensor devices at the CES trade show here. Beacons are Bluetooth transmitters that constantly send messages, such as their location, to smartphones or tablets at close range. The Tracker beacons are attached to enormous harvesting and grain transport vehicles and can be combined with weight-sensing devices on the trucks themselves.

With the beacons, a truck loaded with thousands of pounds of grain can be tracked as soon as it leaves the field where the grain was harvested. As a beacon device passes a tracking sensor -- say at the border of a farm or on another vehicle -- its weight can be transmitted via Bluetooth and recorded.

When the grain arrives at its destination, its weight can be taken again for comparison. The tracking information helps reduce loss of grain through pilferage, and also gives the grain buyer confidence that the grain on the truck actually came from a specific farm.

Previously, trucks carrying grain usually weren’t weighed until they reached a truck scales area miles away. That gap can be eliminated with the Fliegl Tracker and a specialized precise weight detector.

Franz Hopfinger, a manager for research and development at Fliegl, said the tracking technology also helps with ifood safety. Food companies want proof of where grain is harvested, as do consumers.

The beacons themselves are small, light and almost maintenance free, he said, and they can be used with old or new vehicles. Each beacon uses two AA batteries, estimated to last five years, given the low-power requirements of the application.

Fliegl is a 50-year-old company with a history of making harvesters and other large agricultural equipment. In the future, beacons will help detect every time a truck’s rear gate opens or closes, for added security.

Hopfinger also has a long history at the company: he was previously a driver of Fliegl trucks.

Fliegl appeared at an event with other companies using Bluetooth technology to transmit all kinds of data, ranging from wearables to industrial gear.

Errett Kroeter, vice president of marketing at the Bluetooth Special Internet Group, said the Fliegl example is one of many Bluetooth beacon examples that are starting to emerge in industry. Last year, some U.S. retailers, including Target, said they were using beacons to communicate via Bluetooth to smartphones used by shoppers to find special offers inside their stores.

The University of Oklahoma at Norman began rolling out beacons to help students find study rooms and class information in its central library.

ABI Research analyst Patrick Connolly recently said the numbers of beacons shipped so far has remained “quite small,” with 3 million devices shipping globally in 2015. He predicted that number will double in 2016.

Kroeter said analysts have told him the numbers of beacons shipped in 2020 globally will reach 375 million, with an installed based by that time of more than 800 million.

“This is a market that’s growing fast, and in addition to retail, we should be seeing growth in implementations in buildings and other city infrastructure,” he said.

(Read More : computerworld.com/article/3019896/internet-of-things/beacon-tech-for-grain-harvesters-helps-protect-crops.html)

Beacon Technology Nepal | Hackathon awards developers in proximity based technologies

Source    : secureidnews
By        : Gina Jordon
Category  :  Beacon Technology Nepal , Bluetooth Beacon 

The spread of mobile is driving demand for creative mash-ups of proximity-based technologies. That’s why tech incubator AccelerateNFC and proximity ID company Flomio created TrackHack: The Proximity ID Hackathon. TrackHack is a first-of-its-kind event focused solely on the proximity ID technologies that power the Internet of Things – radio frequency identification, Bluetooth Low Energy, and near field communication. The hackathon was held November 20 – 22 in London.

 Organizers call it “an event where hackers and developers can access all proximity ID tech and do what they do best — create, innovate and disrupt.” Eleven teams submitted identity-related entries. Projects included simplifying management of contacts, keeping track of luggage while traveling, and reducing electronic waste. “The tech used in the award winning applications included NXP, HID, OmniID and UGrokIt – which provided a nice mix between NFC, RFID and Bluetooth beacon tech,” says Robert P. Sabella, founder of NFC Bootcamp and AccelerateNFC. “Projects also included wristband identity solutions for event check-in and payments, and injectable chips to enable identification and payments via the tap of a human hand.”

The hackathon brought together experts in development, software/hardware, technology standards, and marketing. Sabella says developers were given a real world perspective in creating solutions and understanding the process of rolling out a new solution “from ideation to development to implementation.” But there’s a learning curve on how to effectively integrate proximity hardware into a web application. So for future events, organizers hope to seed developers’ ideas with current use cases and give them examples of sample code in advance.

“A lot of people today are talking about the Internet of Things. There are ‘connected’ cars, wine bottles, clothing, appliances, jewelry, movie posters, games and toys. Just about any product you can think of can be connected to the digital world in some way,” Sabella says. “We are creating the next stage of the IoT journey. We are already planning our next TrackHack.” It will be held March 11-13, 2016 in Austin, Texas, during South by Southwest.

(Source : secureidnews.com/news-item/hackathon-awards-developers-in-proximity-based-technologies/)

Proximity Based Application | Elle uses beacon technology to drive 500,000 retail store visits

Source    : digiday
By        : Hilary Milnes
Category  : Proximity Based Application

Many publishers add product links to articles to try to get readers to buy online. With a new shopping gambit, Elle magazine is driving consumers into actual physical stores.


“The single, most universal request I hear from every advertiser, whether it’s luxury, beauty or fast fashion, is, ‘Help us drive retail store traffic,’” said O’Malley. “Everyone wants more people in stores — and that’s not necessarily new — but right now, retailers are seeing a fall off more than ever.”

Beacon technology has become a way for retailers to boost in-store traffic with digital features.

“Readers rely on Elle’s point of view when making purchasing decisions, so that combined with an offer, like a discount, is a powerful combination,” said Murphy.

Results from the first five weeks were strong enough that Elle plans to continue the program in 2016.
The push open rate was 15 times higher than the mobile advertising average of 0.8, while in-store visit rates were 100 times higher. That translated to 500,000 in-store visits driven by the beacons in five weeks, O’Malley said. According to a 2015 study by Deloitte, beacon messages over the past year had a 1 percent open rate, and of those who opened the messages, 20 percent went into stores.

“We already curate product in our magazines, but this gets it to the reader when they’re out in the market,” said O’Malley. “That editorial endorsement is highly valuable, because when someone gets a pop-up from a brand selling something, the instinct is delete, delete, delete.”


For Elle, the idea behind Shop Now was to use its editorial sway with readers when they’re out (and possibly closer to a store), not on the couch flipping through a magazine. Despite positive results in its first run, Elle is waiting until after the holidays to continue the program.

“The holidays are a crowded, noisy time,” said O’Malley. “We’re going to instead take a hiatus, and recollect.”

(Read More: digiday.com/publishers/elle-uses-beacon-technology-drive-500000-retail-store-visits/)

PROXIMITY MOBILE MARKETING | HOW CAN STADIUMS & VENUES USE TECHNOLOGY TO DELIGHT FANS & KEEP THEM COMING BACK ?

Source : umbel
By      : Trips Reddy
Category  :Beacon In Museum

HOW FAN-CENTRIC COMPANIES ARE REDEFINING LIVE EVENTS AND CONVERTING SPECTATORS INTO SUPERFANS

Data and new technology are changing fan experiences at stadiums and venues like never before. Teams and venues are using data, apps, beacons and digital innovation to improve operations, player performance and fan experiences. The top priority is to bring fans to stadiums, put them in the center of the action and create experiences that keeps them coming back.

Across the U.S., teams are spending millions to bringing connectivity and convenience to stadiums. In-stadium fans want to be able to share, interact and stay social during games. While many college teams still don’t provide Wi-Fi access in their stadiums, that’s quickly changing. Even colleges have joined the race to give every fan the best seat in the stadium, from the bleachers to the VIP boxes.

Live events are not just about watching a game or concert from a seat anymore. Fans expect a tailored mix of physical and digital experiences across their phones, digital screens, kiosks, concession stands and pretty much every area of the venue.

So how can teams and venues convert stay-at-home viewers into superfans who pay to watch the event live?

Here are the top technology investments that teams are making:

 BEACONS


While beacon implementation across stadiums has been slow, they’re definitely happening. Teams that already implemented beacons use them to send exclusive, stadium-only promotions and trivia to fans devices. The geomapping also helps alert fans on closest restrooms with the shortest wait times etc. More importantly, teams are using beacons to track fan behaviors, movement and spending inside stadiums. So far, 20 of the 30 MLB stadiums have already implemented beacons.
Stadiums already using beacons: Levi’s Stadium, AT&T Park, Houston Dynamo

 A POWERFUL WIRELESS NETWORK SOLUTION


The top priority to ensure fan interaction is connectivity, not just for fans, but also for internal staff, vendors, contractors, press and luxury suite guests. Many younger fans are leaving stadiums at half-time if they can’t connect to the internet. And offering better Wi-Fi also means more money from additional food, beverage, merchandise and upgrade purchases. It’s not enough to just provide Wi-Fi. Fans expect a fast, secure and reliable connectivity. On average, larger stadiums are installing 700+ wireless access points and there are multiple third-party companies like AT&T, Cisco and Verizon that provide end-to-end wireless network services.
Most connected stadiums in the world: Levi’s Center, Barclay’s Center, AT&T Center


STATE-OF-THE-ART MOBILE APPS


Mobile Apps are quickly becoming the most efficient and profitable tool to engage and activate fans at live events. Some professional sports teams already have apps that let fans find parking spots, purchase premium seat upgrades, check-in and locate their seats, order food and beverages to be delivered to their seats, find the closest restroom with the shortest line, watch high-definition instant replay videos and close-up videos, view exclusive content, promotions, coupons and statistics, and get traffic information and the fastest route home after the game. This is already a reality and many teams are scrambling to catch up with the ones that already offer these amazing mobile experiences.
Teams and venues with cutting-edge mobile apps: San Francisco 49ers, Barclay’s Center, New England Patriots, Denver Broncos, Austin City Limits Music Festival,


MOBILE POINT-OF-SERVICE (POS)


Many stadiums and event venues have already rolled out mobile POS (point-of-service) systems so they can have hundreds of vendors selling food, beverages and merchandise pretty much anywhere in the stadium without requiring fans to leave their seats or spend a lot of time in lines. Mobile POS systems enable fast, secure concessions and merchandise sales and also offer savings on space, manpower and time.

GOPRO VIDEO STREAMING

GoPros are becoming increasingly popular with sports teams allowing them to capture and stream unique angles of their venues and games to fans. The National Hockey League (NHL) and the NHL Players’ Association (NHLPA) recently announced a North American partnership with GoPro. GoPros also allow teams and venues to create a lot of virality and buzz based on the stunning visuals that these cameras can capture when used creatively. Here's a video of the Denver Broncos Thunderstorm parachute team dropping into Sports Authority Field at Mile High Stadium before Sunday’s AFC Championship Game. The Cincinnati Bengals appear to be the latest team to embrace the GoPro video camera to enhance their ability to study game film from a different perspective. In preparation for football clash between Cincinnati and Pittsburgh, ESPN installed the HeroCam to give fans a feel of what it's like seeing through the eyes of an NFL player. They did it for several other players and teams throughout the 2013-14 NFL season.

In 2014, before a Houston Texans' home game against the Bengals, a bald eagle named Challenger flew over Reliant Stadium wearing a GoPro camera, and the footage captured is pretty amazing. Also, check out a GoPro video shot by a skydiver as he lands at midfield in Ralph Wilson Stadium during the pregame ceremony against the Dolphins.

TARGETED IN-STADIUM ADS


Stadiums and venues are always looking for new ways to improve their bottom line and get fans to spend more at games. The Denver Broncos’ Sports Authority Field in partnership with Cisco created a powerful marketing platform by installing 1,200 displays that are 55 inches or larger for compelling high-definition experiences and high-impact partner content. But these screens aren’t just for keeping fans engaged with videos, photos and stats. Their team offers segmentation opportunities for advertisers, sponsors, concessionaires, and merchandising partners allowing them to promote tailored offers and products on these screens during games. The Broncos saw a 50% increase in partner sponsorship revenue using these new screens as compared to older, traditional static ad units. The screens have tremendously expanded the amount and value of the digital ad inventory that the Broncos can sell.

The ads and offers can be customized and targeted to various sections of the stadium including destination bars, entitlement zones and seating areas. For example, Bud Light sponsors the Mile High Mountain Village pre-game area and Coca Cola sponsors the Fan Cave. The screens have expanded the amount and value of the digital ad inventory that the Broncos can sell. Sponsors can also run promotions during key moments of the game to capture the most eyeballs. Their digital screens are highly customizable to support a brand's’ creative assets and are also used by alcohol brands to deliver promotional safe driving messages towards the end of a game.

The right technology and fan data can help both sports teams and venues connect with their fans, truly understand what their fans want and build experiences that keep them coming back to live events. Teams need to focus on creating amazing experiences from the minute fans leave their home through their in-stadium time and even after they leave the venue. Fan’s also expect reliable and secure Wi-Fi that lets them share their experiences more easily and stay connected during games. Sports teams and venues need to start innovating and collecting fan data to track customer buying behaviors both online and offline and use it to engage and convert their fans into buying customers.

(Read More: umbel.com/blog/publishers/10-ways-stadiums-are-using-technology-to-delight-fans/)

Beacons | Exploring Location-Based Technology in Museums

Source    :  metmuseum.org

By        :    Veronika Doljenkova

Category : Beacon Technology in Museums

Recently in the museum sector there has been a lot of attention given to "Beacon" or Bluetooth low energy (BLE), a technology that addresses the need for a low-cost, easy-to-implement solution for indoor location-based services. What really excites me about this technology is not that it's going to help museums build great mobile apps (we already have one of those!), but, rather, how open it is—that it opens the door for non-programmers to build their own location-based experiences and

share them with others.

Exploring the museum of Egyptian art using beacon technology

If a museum puts some beacons in its galleries, any device can find them, and any app can use those beacons to trigger content. EddyBox is an app that makes it easy to develop just these experiences.

As mobile technology is developing, the boundary between the physical and the digital user experience is rapidly disappearing. Visitors who enter enclosed public spaces such as galleries, malls, airports, and museums are expecting to receive a mobile experience that is highly relevant, convenient, and delivered in a timely and seamless manner.

For enclosed spaces with thick walls, such as those in museums, using GPS is problematic. The GPS receiver relies on continuous signal transmission from several satellite sources, so physical barriers such as thick walls can cause significant signal interference. Beacons, although a relative newcomer to the location-technology space, have proven themselves to be a seamless and robust solution for large indoor spaces.

Beacons have already been tested in diverse industries ranging from museums (Victoria and Albert Museum, Museum of Neons), to retail (Shopkick, Carrefour), to the entertainment industry (Tulipland, Coachella, Tribeca Film Festival), and airports (London's Heathrow International Airport).

With such promising case studies, the Met's MediaLab decided to test the potential of this technology for the Museum. Under the leadership of Don Undeen, the initial experiments were conducted in the MediaLab's fifth-floor space.

Beacons

Beacons are small wireless sensors that communicate with Bluetooth-enabled smart devices such as iPhones, iPads or Android by continuously advertising their location using a Bluetooth low energy radio transmitter. In turn, smart devices monitor the received signal strength indication (RSSI) and determine the device's proximity to the beacon. Apple's developer guidelines divide the proximity to the beacon into three states: immediate, near (between one and three meters), and far. Once the user is in the desired proximity range, the corresponding app content is triggered.

A typical beacon, like the Eddybox beacon, is essentially a miniature computer that, together with BLE, may include an accelerometer and a temperature sensor.

The initial beacon experiment in the MediaLab's space demonstrated that beacon technology could provide a valuable locative context to the Met's visitors—including supplementary audio and video content, and descriptions of the objects. Beyond the initial supplementary content, the beacons can be a valuable tool in informing visitors about locations of special exhibitions, libraries, dining venues, and other amenities, as well as alerting visitors about current tours and events happening relative to their location.

From the physical UX experience, however, the experiment in the MediaLab space provided a glass-house experience at best. The initial testing in the actual gallery spaces brought to the surface the host of important environmental factors to consider when working with beacons. These include gallery architecture, human traffic, interference with metal objects, temperature changes, battery life, and the customization of app's interface.

Beacon Battery Life and Temperature

One of the main advantages of beacons is supposedly their fairly long battery life. However, changes in temperature seem to have a noticeable effect on the battery life. For example, moving the beacons from the "ideal" temperature environment at the MediaLab to a considerably colder and less predictable lecture-hall space adversely impacted their battery life.

Placement and Human Traffic

Although just an observation at this point (since not enough evidence has been collected), having a group of people between the beacon and the BLE smart device may interfere with the broadcasting of the beacon set to an immediate or near regimes. The app may either start showing another beacon set to a far-proximity range or start switching back and forth between beacons in the near regime that are in the area.

The effect was more pronounced when testing in the busy area of the Arms and Armor galleries. The same "blinking" effect seems to happen if two beacons in an intermediate/near range regime are placed too close to each other, a possibility which is mentioned in Apple's iBeacon developer tools. A deeper understanding of how possible interferences such as metal and human traffic affect the beacon/device communication will be really important to create the most effective user experience.

Future Directions

Beacons and other BLE-responsive devices, although a recent phenomenon, are quickly gaining momentum across a variety of industries. As the technology is becoming better and more affordable, the Met has many opportunities to use it in order to add to the visitor experience. One route would be to develop, in-house, a custom app using tools like the Eddybox SDK, with a possibility of eventually integrating it with the Met app. Such an app can be tailored to address both aesthetic UX aspects

and challenges of the actual gallery environment. Since the physical factors such as temperature changes and human traffic seem to affect the capabilities of the hardware, it is important to investigate this phenomenon more thoroughly by recording the signal strength as a function of temperature changes and human traffic inside each gallery space in question to determine the most appropriate position for each beacon. Finally, the possibility of a beacon being hacked and hijacked should be thoroughly investigated as well.

(Read in Details: metmuseum.org/about-the-museum/museum-departments/office-of-the-director/digital-media-department/digital-underground/2015/beacons)

Beacon Technology -The Where, What, Who, How and Why

Source    : Forbes

By           : H.O. Maycotte
Category: Beacon Technology

Beacons have been generating buzz since 2013, when Apple AAPL +0.87% first introduced iBeacon technology. And while it may have appeared for a time that this new way of connecting with customers might be slow to catch on, today it’s catching fire. This year began with BI Intelligence reporting that beacons would be driving $44 billion in retail sales by 2016, up from $4 billion this year. Then last month came the big news that Apple and IBM have teamed up on a host of new apps incorporating analytics and iBeacons. And just last week, Ad Age reported on the impending reinvention of retail by digital technology, as the physical and digital worlds converge in stores.

Sounds like exactly the right time for a quick primer on beacon technology and what it’s all about. After all, as the Future of Privacy Forum has pointed out, while there’s been a lot of hype around beacons, they haven’t necessarily been very well understood. This week, I’d like to offer some “beacon basics” that I hope will provide a fundamental understanding of the technology and its potential and help more companies of all sizes benefit from it. So without further ado, here’s the where, what, who, how and why of beacons today.

Where: Or perhaps more accurately, where not

Retail is probably the most often cited example of an industry employing beacons, with heavy hitters like Macy’s and Lord & Taylor deploying them in their stores. But retail represents just one of many kinds of businesses that can benefit from beacons. Starwood Hotels is running a pilot program to replace hotel room keys with beacons. Major League Baseball is using them to reach out to fans in stadiums to offer them seat upgrades. American Airlines is one of a growing number of airlines leveraging beacon technology to improve connections with customers in airports. Meanwhile, in the B2B arena, look for beacons to start turning up everywhere from trade show booths to corporate lobbies.

What: Location-based mobile customer communication

Apple explains iBeacon technology to consumers as the enabling technology for Apple devices to alert apps or websites (which the user has opted into) when someone approaches or leaves a location. In other words, retail or other venues that have beacons in place can detect where a customer is at any given moment. Then — and this is the key part, of course — the retailer or other business can push timely messages to that customer promoting products or providing other useful information. Say someone is walking past a retail store; if they’ve downloaded the retailer’s mobile app, the company can use beacon messages to capture their attention as they go by, enticing them to enter. Once inside, beacons can be used to make personalized offers, speed checkout processes and pretty much anything else the retailer can dream up.

Who: Apple, Google GOOGL -0.31% and a growing list of manufacturers

As beacon manufacturer Kontakt has pointed out, Apple isn’t the only game in town when it comes to beacon technology. And in point of fact, Apple doesn’t actually make beacons; rather, it has developed the iBeacon standard around which beacons can be built. (Google has its own beacon standard, Eddystone.) There are a number of players in the beacon manufacturing space — not only Kontakt, but also Eddybox, BlueSense, Gelo, Estimote and others. Check out this list published earlier this year, and expect it to grow as more and more companies look to take advantage of opportunities in this space.

How: Shrinking hardware and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE)

Beacons began as devices about the circumference of a large apple; today they’re mere stickers that can be placed on walls or objects. The smaller and less obtrusive they get, the easier they become to use. Beacons employ Bluetooth low-energy (BLE) wireless technology to pinpoint the location of customers in stores and other places and to deliver messages to their mobile devices. Specifically, a beacon emits a BLE signal that a retailer’s or other company’s app on a smartphone coming within range of that signal can pick up on. A big differentiator between beacons and RFID is that beacons are far more private because it gives users control of the apps that leverage the beacon. This also generally means that beacons are authenticated and with user permission, which can ultimately lead to tremendous experiences as a result.

Why: The power to revolutionize customer experiences

Writing in the Harvard Business Review, Chuck Martin called beacons “the missing piece in the whole mobile-shopping puzzle.” Pointing to the ability to push messages to people without them having to do anything at all, he sees beacons as overcoming a “major hurdle” for companies that want to engage with customers in a more personalized way — because it makes that engagement completely effortless for the customer.

Is beacon technology in your company’s future? Increasingly, the odds are that the answer will be yes.

(Source: forbes.com/sites/homaycotte/2015/09/01/beacon-technology-the-what-who-how-why-and-where/)