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• Location Plus - part of the mobile strategy

  Posted by TTC Admin June 10, 2011 - 812 views - Filed in General News - #mindtree  #mobile strategy  #QR codes 

  Do you know where you have been in the last 2 days? Maybe not but most probably your phone does. And, although recent happenings on 'Location-gate' have raised questions related to privacy violations* due to storage of user's location on mobile, the aspect around usage of this data does create numerous opportunities for all businesses and travel in particular.

  Travel is still grappling with how to effectively leverage mobile for their business although the writing on the wall is clear: ‘Mobile is the next computing platform’. The puzzle gets even more complicated with fragmentation of platforms, narrow views around replicating existing desktop computing applications onto the mobile and adding newer innovations to the mix like augmented reality, QR codes (Quick Response) and NFC (Near Field Communications).

  The first perspective has to be the life cycle view of things i.e. to catch, connect, close and continue. Each stage requires a different level/type of interaction using mobile devices. We are tuned to seeing technology playing a role in silos within the trip life cycle which is evident from the way desktop/web applications were previously built.  However, today there is a paradigm shift in the way end consumers have become 'always available' so they can be engaged at every step of the life cycle.

  Let us take QR codes for example; these are two dimensional bar codes with special features like more storage and hyperlink triggers. They can be read by a user's smart phone using a free app and mobile camera. Imagine you are on a trip, and while flying you find the menu encoded in a QR code pasted on the meal tray in front of your seat. When you reach your destination you use the QR code printed on your e-ticket printout to get a discount coupon for car rental, you find another QR code on the dashboard of the rented car that is deep linked video which explains the functioning of this particular car including data like car tyre pressure values. In your hotel, the channel guide is in the form of a QR code on the LCD in your room, then, back in the car a discount for the next rental is printed as a QR code in your return receipt. Finally, while waiting to catch your return flight you find a QR code in the check-in queue to register for frequent flier program and, by the time you turn up at the check-in desk, the agent informs you that you have been upgraded. Such is the power of mobile technologies.

  Now, imagine combining all this with location. This brings us to the second perspective of marrying location with other 'context awareness' data.  Context awareness includes traveler's interests and preferences, trip context such as business or leisure, romantic or adventure and it also includes the stage of the trip like planning, shopping, at the airport during check-in and the time of the day/calendar month etc. Applying context data on top of the location information can generate new use cases for travel businesses to exploit. For example, merging destination information into surface table technology can help inspire shoppers at airports/waiting lounges. 

  In addition, devices with accelerometers and built-in gyro can replicate a virtual gaming experience, similar to a Wii remote, for a passenger with time to kill during airport layover period. Furthermore, secure meal vouchers on NFC enabled devices can be provided to passengers checking in/transferring on to a delayed flight. And, just pointing at a feature using augmented reality can bring back history/details of that destination and many other similar ways to enhance the experience.

  At the end of the day, travel is about selling experiences and now with powerful mobile devices these experiences can be uninterrupted and at your customer's finger tips.

  Adnan Saulat, Mindtree

  * Apple has clarified in its FAQ that they are only storing Wi-Fi access point data and creating a crowd-sourced location database to pinpoint a user faster using GPS, WPS and other types of positioning data.

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