The Physical Web | Pervasive Memory | Digital Sensors | Social Influence
The real world is about to become the Web.
It doesn’t take much foresight to recognize that we are already starting to hyperlink the physical world like we have the Web. Today if you have the right phone or camera, you can use “augmented reality” applications to get information that is linked to physical objects and entities.
Point your phone down a suburban street, and you will see which houses are for sale. Turn it toward the village center and you can see the direction of each restaurant, along with reviews for each. The award-winning astronomy app StarWalk turns an iPad into a magical tool for stargazers, identifying any constellation when you point the iPad in its direction.
Goodbye Tower of Babel. Hello, rest of the world.
Imagine you are traveling in Spain and don’t speak Spanish. The Word Lens app lets you point your phone at any sign or printed page, and it replaces all the Spanish words with English ones. This is so effective it’s almost creepy; you still see the sign, but the words you can understand replace the ones you cannot.
In the near future, expect increased power and precision. Instead of locating the best hotel for your needs, you’ll be able to identify the best available room in that hotel.
Bookmark a tree, building or beach
As you make new discoveries in the real world, you will be able to bookmark them. If you are hiking deep in the woods and discover a beautiful clearing under a giant oak tree, you can bookmark it so you can easily find it on your next visit.
The SoundHound app lets you identify any song you hear playing, even if it’s simply being sung by a kid on a street corner. Microsoft Tag and Google Goggles both allow companies to tag products so that customers can simply scan a code and see whatever information, demonstrations or offers the company chooses to attach. Such elements can be changed in real time, to enable timely offers or to accommodate sifting inventories. Think of a blouse with such a tag; the attached offer could promote 50% off a matching skirt, until that skirt is sold out and the offer immediately shifts to promote a different accessory.
For the 2011 Super Bowl, USAToday joined forces with the Junaio augmented reality app to let individuals “stand” on the field and take a 360-degree tour of Dallas Cowboys stadium, just by moving their smartphone in any direction.
UpNext offers 3D maps of major American cities, which let you zoom in on any section, block or building. This app lets you immediately get a sense of distance between locations, or simply learn what the building you are headed towards looks like. If you are looking for an Asian restaurant in a neighborhood or a fun attraction, UpNext highlights all the buildings that meet your criteria and gives you a concise written summary of each. Thanks to integration with Foursquare, the app can also help you find nearby places where your friends are currently gathering.
“Green stamp collector up ahead, good buddy”
Trapster is an app that lets drivers alert each other about speed traps, enforcement cameras and road hazards. MSNBC called it “a community based high-tech early warning system.” iNap wakes train and subway riders up before they pass their stop, because waking up in New Haven is a very jarring experience when you were headed for a morning meeting in Manhattan.
Get the idea? We are at the very early stages of tagging and linking the physical world, but that doesn’t mean that it is far off in the future. Much of the necessary technology already exists. It means that most corporate executives and business strategies have not yet recognized that the real world is being linked like the Web – but with more impactful consequences.
Why more impactful? Just think about what happens on the Web. Your movements can be tracked. Offers can be targeted to specific individuals. Genuinely helpful services such as Web banking replaced “free toaster” ads. Nearly anything can be customized or personalized.
Think bigger. Think smaller. (Yes, this makes sense)
To anticipate the business opportunities to come, we suggest you think both small and large. Physical Web technology will solve small but frequent problems like losing your keys in your house, your car in a parking lot, or your kids outside playing.
It will also tackle huge problems like companies not really understanding which of their activities are profitable, which processes are broken, and which customers represent the future of their industry. Linking the real world will allow both managers and individuals to take an increasingly granular view of the world, understanding what works and why.
As the physical Web rises, pretty much everything a company does for its customers will become more interactive, dynamic and open to scrutiny.