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Let's Talk About Beacons

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Re: Let's Talk About Beacons

#2
> * In fact, referring to these devices as just “Beacons” is a bit funny, considering no one was talking about Beacons before iBeacons existed.*

Well...I recall unpaired advertising events in the Bluetooth 4.0 Low Energy Spec back in 2010 - way before Apple ever got involved.

Re: Let's Talk About Beacons

#3
Do you know (can you share) if the WiFi and BLE networks at Levi Stadium were designed with each other in mind. I am wondering if it is truly as easy as using "a network that the venue probably already has" considering that all of the Beacons would need to be in BLE range of a WiFi device. I don't know enough about the ranges of each different technology or how their signals interact with all the various material that would exist in a football stadium. However I imagine that if you were designing these two networks in isolation, there is a decent chance that the required placements for full Bluetooth coverage and full WiFi coverage would leave some Beacons that aren't reachable.

Re: Let's Talk About Beacons

#4
post #2

> * In fact, referring to these devices as just “Beacons” is a bit funny, considering no one was talking about Beacons before iBeacons existed.* Well...I recall unpaired advertising events in the Bluetooth 4.0 Low Energy Spec back in 2010 - way before Apple ever got involved.

Absolutely ... this wasn't an entirely new "invention," although Apple's technique of cramming their metadata in the spec is definitely novel, although nonstandard.

Re: Let's Talk About Beacons

#5
post #3

Do you know (can you share) if the WiFi and BLE networks at Levi Stadium were designed with each other in mind. I am wondering if it is truly as easy as using "a network that the venue probably already has" considering that all of the Beacons would need to be in BLE range of a WiFi device. I don't know enough about the ranges of each different technology or how their signals interact with all the various material tha…

Wifi-Beacon interop is quite new; it turns out the Wifi network at Levi's is really dense so it does have insane coverage. Also the Beacons are surprisingly visible even without further interop tricks - you can see them across the stadium at times.

Re: Let's Talk About Beacons

#6
Carry a beacon (or a bunch of them) with you into a shop and the store will recognize you the next time you enter. That's handy! It's like a cookie that you physically bring every time. ~

Or, in other words, no thanks.

Re: Let's Talk About Beacons

#7
post #6

Carry a beacon (or a bunch of them) with you into a shop and the store will recognize you the next time you enter. That's handy! It's like a cookie that you physically bring every time. ~ Or, in other words, no thanks.

Who is suggesting that users would carry beacons?

Re: Let's Talk About Beacons

#8
post #2

> * In fact, referring to these devices as just “Beacons” is a bit funny, considering no one was talking about Beacons before iBeacons existed.* Well...I recall unpaired advertising events in the Bluetooth 4.0 Low Energy Spec back in 2010 - way before Apple ever got involved.

It rarely matters who is first.

Re: Let's Talk About Beacons

#9
post #6

Carry a beacon (or a bunch of them) with you into a shop and the store will recognize you the next time you enter. That's handy! It's like a cookie that you physically bring every time. ~ Or, in other words, no thanks.

Shops will have beacons, not you.

Re: Let's Talk About Beacons

#10
Really cool technology. I think the really hard part is 'What is a good interaction?' Clearly the offer isn't too useful, but the hospital one seems good. In general, I think 'help me find stuff' and 'notify on exit' will be the dominant modes of beacon interaction. What do you all think?
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