This document summarizes a BISG webcast on consumer empowerment through smartphones. The webcast discussed how embedding URLs in barcodes on display objects allows smartphones to access additional online information and services. Proper implementation factors were also covered, including tailoring websites for smartphones, using short URLs, employing redirection, and ensuring symbol readability. The webcast provided examples of potential applications in real estate, advertising, music, and the book industry.

1. WELCOME TO
“Consumer Empowerment
Through Smartphones
Through Smartphones”
This BISG WEBCAST took place
Thursday September 16 2010 at 1:00 p m Eastern
Thursday, 16, p.m.
To register for future BISG Webcasts, please visit:
http://www.bisg.org/event-cat-6-webcasts.php
BISG WEBCAST
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2. Creating a more informed,
empowered and efficient book
industry supply chain for both
physical and digital products.
physical and digital products
BISG is committed to the development of effective industry­
wide standards best practices research and events that
wide standards, best practices, research and events that
enhance relationships between trading partners.
www.bisg.org
g g
BISG WEBCAST
© 2010, the Book Industry Study Group, Inc. 2
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3. You’ll be hearing from today…
g y
ANGELA BOLE
Deputy Executive Director
Book Industry Study Group, Inc.
Angela Bole is Deputy Executive Director of the Book Industry
Study Group (BISG). Based in New York City, BISG is an industry
trade association working to create a more informed empowered
informed,
and efficient book industry supply chain for both digital and
physical products.
TOM CLARKSON
Distribution Systems Consultant
Cumberland Systems Review Group
Tom Clarkson has been a member of the Book Industry Study
Group (BISG) and its various committees since the 1970s. He is
currently Chair of the BISAC Machine Readable Coding
Committee. He held this position during the transition to ISBN-
13, and he is active today as the committee considers the
y
relevance of consumer empowerment for the book industry.
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4. BISG WEBCAST
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5. And now, on with the show…
,
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© 2010, the Book Industry Study Group, Inc. 5
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6. Consumer
Empowerment
Through
Smartphones
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7. Introduction
• The advent of “smartphone” applications that initiate
action based on information encoded in bar code
symbols has provided a wide array of new
opportunities to inform and empower consumers.
• Consumers in other parts of the world, particularly
Japan and Europe, have been using their cell or
mobile phones in this manner for several y
p years to:
• Get information of all sorts
• Get driving directions
• Make purchases
• Applications are now beginning to appear in the
United States
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8. Definitions
• Smartphone
A cell or mobile phone that includes a built-in camera and
has the ability to run a pre-stored application program
• App
pp
An application program that runs on a smartphone
• Display Object
The object on which the symbol used to enable
smartphone applications is displayed.
The display object might be a book, a promotional poster, a
p y j g , p p ,
window sticker or even a data display screen
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9. Definitions
• Reliable Source
In our presentation, this term refers to a provider of
information that can be considered accurate in regard to
the intent of the manufacturer or other originator of the
display bj t
di l object
• ISO
International Organization for Standardization
• ISO Standard
A description of a technical process or configuration
intended to enable the more efficient manufacture and
supply of products and services
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10. Today s Agenda
Today’s Agenda
• Consumer Empowerment: The Process
• Applications for the General Public
• An Application in the Book Industry
• Implementation
• A Technology in Progress
gy g
• Summary
• Questions?
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11. Consumer
Empowerment:
The Process
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12. The Process
The Process ­ Scope
• The number and nature of smartphone applications
is,
is for all practical purposes unlimited
purposes,
• Today’s presentation focuses on applications where:
• A consumer scans (or captures) a bar code symbol
• An associated webpage is then displayed on the screen
of the phone
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13. The Process
The Process – Overview
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14. The Process
The Process – Summary
• A URL, but not detailed information, is encoded in a
symbol on the display object
• A smartphone captures an image of the symbol
• An app in the smartphone decodes the symbol
symbol,
retrieves the URL, and accesses a specific website
• The website may:
• Return information to be displayed, or
• Give the consumer choices of additional information, or
• Enable the consumer to take an action including making
action,
a purchase
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15. Applications for the
General Public
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16. Real Estate Sign
• When a prospective
buyer captures the
sy bo on s ea
symbol o this real
estate sign, info
about the property
offered will be
downloaded
• No more missing or
wet spec sheets!
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17. Calvin Klein Billboard
• When a consumer
captures this symbol
from a Ca
o Calvin Klein
e
billboard, a 30 second
commercial for the
Calvin Klein fall line is
presented
Illustrations © Calvin Klein
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18. Green Day Album Cover
• When a consumer
captures this symbol
o
on a G ee Day
Green ay
band album cover,
information about the
band is presented
p
and free music can
be downloaded
Illustrations © Green Day
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19. American Museum of
Natural History
N t l Hi t
Illustration © American Museum of Natural History
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20. Selecting What To See
Illustrations © A
Ill i American M
i Museum of N
f Natural Hi
l History
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21. Finding Out How to Get There
Illustrations © A
Ill i American M
i Museum of N
f Natural Hi
l History
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22. What You ll See / Additional Info
What You’ll See / Additional Info
Illustrations © A
Ill i American M
i Museum of N
f Natural Hi
l History
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23. Share and Mark as Visited
Illustrations © A
Ill i American M
i Museum of N
f Natural Hi
l History
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24. Services You May Need
Illustrations © A
Ill i American M
i Museum of N
f Natural Hi
l History
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25. An Application
in the
Book Industry
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26. Lauren Conrad
Lauren Conrad ­ HarperCollins
Scanning this symbol with a camera-equipped
smartphone using the appropriate application
leads to this webpage displayed on the phone
Illustrations courtesy of and © HarperCollins
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27. Webpage
Webpage ­ All About Lauren
Illustrations courtesy of and © HarperCollins
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28. Webpage
Webpage – Read Chapter 1
Illustrations courtesy of and © HarperCollins
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29. Webpage
Webpage – Buy the Book
Illustrations courtesy of and © HarperCollins
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30. Implementation
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31. The User Experience
• A good initial user experience is critical when any
new feature is introduced to the public
• A consumer’s first experience capturing symbols and
launching smartphone apps must be p
g p pp positive
• The entire process should be easy to use and
reliable; free of confusion or erratic results
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32. Implementation Factors
• Implementation factors critical to a positive user
experience include:
• Website Page Tailoring
• Internet Access
• Symbology Selection
• Symbol Placement
y
• Symbol Readability
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33. Pages Tailored for the
Smartphone
S t h
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34. Pages Tailored for the
Smartphone
S t h
Pages intended for download to a smartphone must be
tailored accordingly
• Consider carefully what the consumer will see
• Smartphone screens are small
• Fonts must be clean and easily readable
• Images must be large and few on a single page
• Less is more; additional pages are preferable to
overcrowded pages
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35. Web Access
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36. Web Access
Web Access – Short URLs
• Best practice is to encode as short a URL as
possible
• Short URLs result in smaller symbols made up of
fewer elements as compared to longer URLs
p g
• Having fewer elements means that the symbol is
less susceptible to reading errors
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37. Web Access
Web Access ­ Redirection
• Redirection may be employed
• The symbol on the display object encodes a short URL
• When the address corresponding to the short URL is
reached, the inquiry is sent (
q y (redirected) immediately to
) y
another address that may have a more complicated URL
• Redirection also provides flexibility in presentation
• Changes to a campaign in progress is facilitated
• Only the redirection need be changed to display content
at a new URL; no modification is required of symbols
already i place
l d in l
• Redirection enables collecting data for the analysis
of consumer visits to the website
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38. Where to Get the Scanner App
• Some mobile carriers are beginning to preload
scanning software on their phones
• Most smartphone (hardware) providers have app
stores that offer scanning software in addition to a
g
wide variety of other applications
• Scanning apps are often included in the listings of
most frequently downloaded apps in these stores
• Consumers should look for apps that purport to read
multiple popular symbologies
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39. Symbol Considerations
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40. Symbology Selection
• A number of symbologies are capable of linking
consumers to information via smartphones
• The use of public domain symbologies with
established ISO standards is recommended
• Non-ISO standard or proprietary symbologies usually
require proprietary apps on the smartphone
• Wh a non-ISO standard symbology i used, any
When ISO t d d b l is d
failure to link will probably not be attributed by the
consumer to the absence of a proprietary app
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41. One Dimensional Symbology
One­Dimensional Symbology
Linear Symbols
EAN UPC
• Encode information in a single, linear direction
• Are familiar to consumers as the product identifier
• Encode only numeric data
Note: EAN and UPC are manifestations of the same symbology
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42. EAN/UPC
EAN/UPC – Typical Uses
• When an EAN/UPC is scanned, the website reached
is controlled by the smartphone app
• Thus a caution for consumers:
• The website reached may not be a “reliable source
reliable source”
• Information may not have come from the manufacturer
• Common product-based apps include:
• Price comparisons and availability
• Gluten, lactose or other allergy warnings
• Guidance on diet for diabetics or persons with other
sensitive conditions
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43. Two Dimensional Symbologies
Two­Dimensional Symbologies
Matrix Symbols
QR Code Data Matrix Aztec
• Encode information in both horizontal and vertical
directions
• Can encode much more information in a smaller
space th one-dimensional symbologies
than di i l b l i
• Can encode alphanumeric information, including
URLs
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44. Matrix Symbol
Matrix Symbol – Typical Uses
• Website accessed is typically controlled solely by a
URL encoded in the symbol
• The information provided from the website is usually
furnished by the person or organization p
y p g posting the
g
symbol
• Thus the consumer can have much greater
confidence that the information is from a “reliable
reliable
source”
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45. Symbol Placement
• The location in which Bookland EAN symbol is
placed on a book is critical; it must be found quickly
at point of sale and by automated scanners
• In contrast, placement of symbols for consumer
p y
empowerment on display objects, including books, is
much less critical
• Consumers can (and do) maneuver the smartphone
• Nevertheless, symbols for consumer empowerment
must be easy to find
• The symbol must also be separated appropriately
from any other symbols on the display object
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46. Symbol Readability
The original image must be:
• Created in high resolution
The reproduced image must be:
• Sized large enough to ensure a successful capture
• Printed on material capable of y
p yielding a clear image
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• Printed in a color contrasting appropriately with the
background color
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47. Implementation Guidance
The preceding points are an overview of the important
implementation factors
• Implementation guidance is covered in more detail in
the Discussion paper Consumer Empowerment
p p p
through Smart Phones (www.bisg.org/)
• The Machine Readable Coding Committee will
continue to revise and update that document and
provide additional information on the BISG Website
as the field evolves
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48. A Technology
in Progress
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49. Where Are We?
• The only thing constant in life is change
• It seems that ongoing developments related to
smartphones are announced weekly, if not daily
• Waiting doesn t appear to be a wise option for those
doesn’t
interested in being perceived as an innovator in
consumer empowerment applications
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50. Where From Here?
• For organizations considering whether to initiate a
consumer empowerment application it appears
application,
prudent to begin
• The field is sufficiently mature that implementing
y p g
using today’s practices should result in future
momentum rather than wasted effort
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51. Minimizing Obsolescence
• Minimize obsolescence in an implementation, by
following key factors noted earlier:
• Configure content appropriately for presentation on
smartphone screens
• Select a symbology for the display object that meets an
ISO standard
• Well configured presentations will still be effective if
symbology advancements are introduced
• Smartphone screen presentations enhanced by
innovations in technology can still be accessed from
older symbols
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52. Interesting Innovations
• The mythical “invisible bar code” has been with us
for years, along with the unicorn and the mermaid
years
• However, approaches that at least camouflage
encoded information have actually been reported
y p
• In one case, a pattern recognizable by the phone is
“watermarked” into a portion of the material on the
display object
p y j
• In another, a visible pattern such as a portion of an
illustration is recognized by the smartphone app
• The consumer will be told to focus on a particular
image or area of the display object, for detection
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53. Summary
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54. Summary
• Consumer empowerment through smartphone
applications has arrived in the United States
(if in doubt, check with kids or grandkids)
• Applications are appearing in the book industry
The HarperCollins promotion in connection with the
Lauren Conrad series is an excellent example
• Th book industry should also b able t spur some
The b k i d t h ld l be bl to
imagination for appropriate applications by reviewing
those already implemented in other areas
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55. Summary
• The technology supporting consumer empowerment
and its typical implementations are evolving rapidly
• However, sufficient maturity has been obtained that
organizations considering utilizing the concept are
g g g p
encouraged to proceed
• Recommendations to minimize obsolescence as an
organization proceeds:
• Configure content appropriately
• Utilize standard bar codes and other components
wherever possible
h ibl
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56. BISG Support
• BISG will continue to monitor developments in the
field of consumer empowerment
• The Machine Readable Coding Committee will
continue to update information on the BISG website
p
in support of development and implementation in the
book industry
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57. Thank you!
We ll now take questions
We’ll now take questions
ANGELA BOLE
Book Industry Study Group
angela@bisg.org
www.bisg.org
www bisg org
TOM CLARKSON
Cumberland Systems Review Group
tclarkson@csrgrp.com
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58. Contributors
The Machine Readable Coding Committee thanks the following
g g
members of the working group for their contributions to the
preparation of this presentation:
Al Garton, GS1 US, AGarton@gs1us.org
Andy Verb, Bar Code Graphics, Averb@barcode-us.com
y , p , @
Carol Gordon, BookNet Canada, cgordon@booknetcanada.ca
George Wright Sr., PIPS, Inc., gwright@pips.com
George Wright IV, PIPS I
G W i ht IV PIPS, Inc., gw4@pips.com
4@ i
Kathy Paugh, Film Masters, Inc., barcodes@en.com
Sara Raffel, BISG, sara@bisg.org
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