denpa )))

Catching up and moving on

2011-01-09T23:54:00.002+09:00

Ok, I think I can manage to have a blog now that I have the rest of my life a little better organized now. Things got busy in the last few years - I got a new job with a company in Amsterdam, dealt with the stresses of living in my second foreign country and stuff, etc.

Mobile phones have reached the point where screen real estate is the only thing really holding them back. Barcodes are everywhere, and artistic embellishment has risen to a true art - I've seen a lot of cool examples, such as the Takashi Murakami and Marc Jacobs as well as the Wired Pac-Man themed code are all nicely done and use some cool techniques. Now there are a lot of people getting creative with barcodes and markers - integrating AR and innovating new uses and applications. The nerd in me can't stay away. Since the nerd in me accounts for about 90% of me - I'm gonna try picking this up again.

I was trying to put something like the kinect together for a few months using two webcams, opencv and opengazer using a couple of markers for calibration - luckily I didn't go through with it. I'd much rather just buy a better one than I could make - and it comes with an X-box and a big development community ;). I just managed to get some libraries installed and start checking out demo code with freenect, OpenNI, PrimeSense, ofxKinect, etc. People are doing super-cool stuff with it on You-Tube/Vimeo/Google and I got inspired. Looking forward to tinkering around with it and hopefully coming up with something ~~cool~~ that kinda works the way I hoped. If I can manage it, I want to do something like Johnny Lee's wii hack simulating 3D perspective but without the IR leds since I should be able to do some head orientation and position tracking. Big talk for a non-programmer. Yes it will only work with one head at a time (for now...), but still fun to try. I also want to get my hands on finger-detection with multi-touch gestures code and mess around.

About head-tracking and eye/gaze-tracking. Eye-tracking with a webcam requires some aggressive jitter-reduction (at least for my shifty eyes). I tried using my gaze as a mouse and realized that I was unable to control my gaze without occasionally looking around. Head-tracking seems a little more deliberately controllable since you are still free to move your eyes around, allowing you to multi-task a bit more gracefully.

I already had some interesting experiences with the kinect - I realized I can't easily sneak a sip of coffee or smoke a cigarette during gameplay without pausing as everything I do is picked up by the kinect. I had to become more aware of what my body was doing and more deliberate in what I did.

Anyways, I got other stuff to do so that's all for now.

Het Nieuwe Eten - Dutch QR Goodness

2008-12-31T19:22:00.009+09:00

It's been a long time since I posted. Things have been hectic over the past year in Tokyo and Amsterdam, but the dust is finally starting to settle.

While waiting for the tram this morning to go to work at my new job, I noticed a new ad at the tram stop featuring a qr-code for Voedingscentrum (Nutrition Center), a site promoting healthy foods and encouraging people with their "kies ik gezond" ("I choose to be healthy") message, along with various tools and resources on their site. Use Google translate to check it out if you are not one of the 20 million people on this planet that speak Dutch ;). These codes contain a web link and are now on over 1,500 billboards in The Netherlands. Don't have a barcode reader on your phone? They have you covered: just SMS GEZOND to 3669 to receive a free SMS with a link to the mobile site.

I noticed that the broodjes with and without cheese in the background also formed a QR-code :). Actually there are several designs around the city using food to create a QR-code pattern in the background. Props to SPRXMobile for putting this together. I have been involved with a few projects that used 2D codes here in Europe and this is among the more creative ones I have seen. I am very happy to see this kind of initiative and smooth execution to bring mobile to a marketing campaign, turning what could have been "just a poster" into a multi-channel call-to-action, giving me something to do while I scoff at the never-correct tram schedules. It is especially cool to see it here in Amsterdam where I live, rather than just reading about it happening elsewhere.

By the way, I am still working in the mobile space here in Amsterdam, though my focus is now on LBS and navigation services. I will still be all up in the barcode and NFC space in my own time.

Augme

2007-10-31T06:29:00.001+09:00

Nice community-building marketing idea that may be the gentle introduction to 2D codes the West needs. For me though, the real treat is the "Find a reader for your phone" form. Select your make and model and it will list any known compatible reader software and give you links to download them. It's so easy to find at least one reader for your phone. By promoting the reader apps out there and giving people a fun way to use the codes Augme is educating the public about their use and helping open the door for mobile campaigns and creative applications that make use of 2D bar codes.

Jaxo: nice barcode generator

2007-10-28T05:37:00.000+09:00

Very cool online bar code generator that lets you create QR-codes, Datamatrix, Aztec and PDF 417. You can switch between codes to compare them and technical information about the code is also displayed. There are even some simple drawing tools to let you customize you code with color.

You can try it out online or download a standalone Java application. They also make a reader for phones, but I prefer i-nigma and Kaywa over this one. Still, the generator apps are definitely worth a look.

Nokia Point & Find

2007-10-27T07:10:00.000+09:00

Very cool concept, but their press release is all spin (I know, big suprise).

(Blogger wont let me link a URL with an ampersand in it so here it is.)
http://www.nokia.com/NOKIA_COM_1/Press/twwln/press_kit/Point_&_Find_Press_Backgrounder_October_2007.pdf

"The solution is able to distinguish objects – indoors and outdoors and even when they are very small or are moved from an original location – without the need for barcodes, RFID (radio-frequency identification) or other physical identifiers."

Somehow I bet making a 2D code is easier, faster and cheaper than registering an image with Nokia. I also expect that without a marker of some sort, how will you know what will work and what will not? The nice thing about codes is that educating users to use an easily identifiable tool is easier than showing them how to use an invisible one. Users outside Asia are just starting to understand the potential of proximity marketing with Bluetooth, RFID and 2D bar codes.

"Bored on a train, a traveller sees a photo of a beautiful island in an advertising poster. Later, once home, the image is already forgotten. But ‘Point [and] Find’ can instantly link our traveller – and potential visitor – with information about the destination, from tourist notes to special offers on flights, accommodation and excursions."

...

"Point the camera phone at a poster for a new movie to watch the trailer, buy tickets, find screening times or read reviews, or point the phone at a famous landmark to be put in touch with historical and architectural details or tourist information."

...

"...it can do this on existing camera phones, without needing hardware upgrades, and does not require costly infrastructure modifications."

...

"While capturing the image of an object is something every camera phone user knows how to do, ‘Point [and] Find’ is able to use this image to take people instantly to the content they want, with one – or maybe zero – further clicks."

So can bar codes, nothing new here.

"The benefits offered to content providers and developers by Point [and] Find are great, because they capitalise on the immediacy of the situation."

On trains and metros you cannot always depend on a good network connection. Also, I believe the tech works by having the phone send the image to Nokia for processing and response. I would bet this is not even close to instant, and definitely much slower than a code scan.

I wonder how well it will hold up against look-alikes, spoofs and other copies. It sounds like the technological gap between 2D code to image recognition is still a bit larger than the value it adds for marketing at this time. I also dislike the need for network connectivity. You may as well send an SMS instead of sending an image file from your phone to Nokia's servers so you can wait for them to tell you that you are standing in front of a 2003 Ford Bronco and maybe you would like to rent a car. Codes are (the good ones, anyway;)) are interpreted on the device, require no connectivity and can be used to trigger a wide variety of actions such as going to a URL, sending an SMS, making a phone call, saving an event to your calendar, recording a contact in your phone book, making a web bookmark, etc. Psytec's QR-code creator tool also lets you password protect them (though this is not well supported).

Anyway, maybe I am cranky today. I think this could be big in a few years, but at the moment it seems to offer little advantage over bar codes for a large cost.

DoCoMo QR-Code How-To

2007-10-19T14:47:00.000+09:00

You don't even need to know Japanese to understand the commercial. Nice.

Brand a QR-Code in 5 minutes

2007-10-08T09:23:00.000+09:00

I had wondered how companies like DesignQR and TimesCode and online tools like MojiQ Maker generate working codes with icons or text obscuring part of the code. I suspected that they rely on error-correction to compensate for the modules removed or obscured by the design. Most of the examples I see are type 6 or higher codes even though they contain relatively little information, which would be consistent with using the higher error-correction settings. So naturally I gave it a try.

So you can take a shortcut to adding a little identity to a QR-code.

Make code with 25% or 30% error-correction using your tool of choice
Grab a logo image
Pull your code and logo into your drawing program
Adjust until you like the result and it scans with your phone
Save
Brag about it on your nerdy blog

I am sure that DesignQR's approach is more scientific than this but it works all the same. Both examples work well on my E65 - almost an instant scan with i-nigma and Kaywa (the only reader's I tested this with so far). I generally like the approach of working the design into the code more, but this is faster and easier and why not combine the approaches?

Bar Code Art

2007-10-06T06:12:00.000+09:00

Wow. All kinds of original barcode art, videos, animations and products. All very creative and well done. Here's a sample.

Yet more 1D barcode art

2007-10-05T16:44:00.001+09:00

My wife just sent me this link. Quite a few creative applications of bar codes in art and advertising.

Mobiles and Campaign Discovery

2007-10-04T09:24:00.000+09:00

I like reading mobile marketing case studies (I think it's a side effect from all the EDGE radiation I have absorbed), and Bluetooth marketing for mobiles looks pretty difficult. Plus given what I have seen it provides little benefit over barcodes in some situations. If I have to get close enough to read instructions I could have scanned a barcode instead. Even someone unfamiliar with barcodes would probably have an easier time installing an application than configuring their Bluetooth.

Since many people are still a little unsure about Bluetooth marketing, voluntary opt-in is difficult to trigger gracefully. This is less difficult with other calls-to-action like SMS/Email, barcodes and RFID where interaction requires deliberate action, but the required action is so simple that a transaction can be completed before the impulse to participate subsides.

SMS keywords and "empty mail" (Japan's mobile email equivalent to SMS opt-in) require the user to transmit information from some media to their device. Somewhat inconvenient, but it definitely constitutes a voluntary opt-in.
2D-barcodes require the user to activate their code reader and aim their device's camera at the barcode. The device them reads the information from the media itself. Since the user does very little to facilitate the transfer of information, it would take the same amount of time to input a page of text as it does a URL. It can also be used to trigger the other forms of opt-in such as SMS, empty-mail, web access, client application download, or even further instructions or special information about a campaign. It could contain all of these at once. Granted, these are best suited for print media. People can remember an short code/keyword long after the commercial is over or the magazine is lost, but barcodes demand immediate participation unless they can take it with them (say, on a business card). Still I think the act of scanning a code is engaging rather than tedious (like typing an SMS). You can even embed extra information like what publication the ad is running in or what region the magazine was shipped to, etc. Planned well you could gather some interesting demographics this way.
With RFID the user must get their device deliberately close to an antenna. It is possible the use could trigger their chip accidentally, but I haven't seen this happen. RFID is a very nice blend of requiring deliberate participation while keeping the transfer mechanism super simple. "Come a little closer." The problem is that not so many devices are equipped with chips.
Then again this is my relatively uninformed opinion.
Bluetooth is a little different from the others. Most of the time you are prompted to participate without initiating contact (walking or even riding your bike by a shop does not count as an opt-in). Other times you have to follow some instructions to make your device receptive to the campaign. Since many people are concerned about nasty-ware and Bluetooth security this may considered invasive and bothersome. Most of the time the mechanism is bigger than the message. All that work to get this image on my phone telling me to buy your product. If it had been an old-school print ad you might have found my way there in the time it took to get the message via Bluetooth.

"Biased"? I don't know what your talking about. Denso Banzai!

Since most phones have cameras and scanning applications are free and many, there is more of a hardware barrier to RFID than barcodes. Plus it is generally cheaper to place a print ad than a networked RFID station.

There is nothing wrong with SMS/Email opt-in, and as I mentioned barcodes can be used to facilitate these mechanisms in situations where it cannot replace them. For instance, you can scan a code and be presented with an SMS, recipient and message already filled in and ready to send. The same can be done with email. URL's, contact information, encrypted data (like on Japanese work visas), double-byte characters, control characters, and so on. Lots of possibilities, and I have a feeling that this will blow up in 2008 in Europe and the US. At least I hope so ;).

CR-code

2007-10-03T20:45:00.000+09:00

"CR" for "Colbert Response". I thought this would be a good opportunity to create an animated code and show some appreciation for Colbert Nation and The Colbert Report. I admit I got the idea by noticing how Tomi Ahonen and Stephen Colbert look a bit alike.

Improved Logo Codes

2007-10-02T03:54:00.000+09:00

So I haven't been blogging at all lately. I've been super busy with work, moving, registering myself in yet another country, learning to dodge trams on my old-school Dutch fiets, etc. I did manage to spend a little time honing my QR and Datamatrix -branding skills. Here are a couple of them that I can share:

Now, I had good results with these codes using i-nigma, Kaywa and QuickMark on a Nokia E65 an 6120c. The BeeTagg reader (they recently added Datamatrix support) might read the MoMo Amsterdam code. Your mileage may vary. These may not be the coolest codes I can show, but they are pretty reliable even from a computer screen with no auto-focus or macro-mode. The Tomi Ahonen code is a QR-code, so all you folks living in Japan (and many of you elsewhere in Asia) know just what to do with it. The MoMo Amsterdam code is a Datamatrix code. Similar to but different from a QR-code, and your keitai might not be able to handle it. Those outside of Japan (and may some of those inside) have a nice selection of free applications to install. If you have access to a Windows machine you can scan them both with QuickMark WebCam. Actually this would be a nice replacement for those $5000 POS scanners with QR-code recognition. Freeware and a $5 web cam can do the same thing with a little programming glue.

Anyways, you can see what is possible here without introducing any new technology or code format. I admit this treatment may detract from the code's readability, but if you are careful you can strike a good balance of branding and functionality. The symbology that is readable to machines becomes meaningful to humans. Out of context, I would bet that given a choice people would rather scan a branded code, as they have some idea of where it goes. These branded codes are less reliant on surrounding context to give them a meaning and promote familiarity.

With QR you can include text in multiple languages, add links to take users to mobile web pages or prompt them to SMS, email or call. They can also be used as a replacement for SMS in some cases, especially print media. Mobile coupons, product information, ticketing, real-world connections to digital services, contact information, game pieces, and on and on. I hope to see an advertising campaign that includes 2D bar codes integrated into urban art. I think it would look cool to overlay some graffiti over a QR-code that gave information about the artist, their portfolio site, whatever. Yep, that would be cool. Maybe someone will do it...

Getting Creative with 1D Barcode

2007-09-29T22:54:00.000+09:00

I have been getting into integrating brands and logos into QR and Datamatrix barcodes and was looking for similar work by others when I came across Barcode Revolution and Pfadfinderei. Both companies do very creative work with standard 1D UPC-type barcodes. Here are a couple examples of each company's work, but be sure to go check out their sites to see some more great examples.

Barcode Revolution

Pfadfinderei

Ping

2007-08-05T08:43:00.000+09:00

It's been crazy relocating from Tokyo to Amsterdam without taking time off of work. I've now got an apartment and a bike, so I'm pretty much settled in. I am a little concerned about the spiders.

I am not so fond of spiders.

There are LOTS of spiders around the parks in Amsterdam.

My apartment is near a park.

When we moved in for real and the owner had cleared out my wife and I could really check everything out. We went to the terrace (a big selling point on the apartment) and took a seat. Without turning my head I could see 6 spiders hanging in midair pretty close to me. One of them was eating a fly. I don't want to get rid of them because I expect they are there because my place is teeming with spider snacks.

Maybe a few spiders is better than swarms of gnats or horseflies. The only spider that concerns me is this little tiny guy in a corner of the terrace. Today we saw him slowly cocooning a horsefly maybe 20 times bigger than itself. Must be pretty poisonous.

Or maybe I should just relax and spray them away with a hose. That's my terrace.

DoCoMotion

2007-06-06T03:15:00.000+09:00

Played with a few of these today at work. No interesting motion-capable apps come preinstalled though (that was my main reason to play with it :(). I'll have to download some I guess. The press release shows a full list of features, so check it out.

Trillcode Take 2

2007-06-05T22:49:00.000+09:00

I was a little critical of Trillcode in a previous post about 2 months ago, especially the hype about integrating logos into (below) the codes. In the past months they have made some enhancements that allow you to place an image or animation within the code itself - a vast improvement that places the brand at the center of attention rather than the code itself.
I am still most enthusiastic about the approach Logo-Q takes, even though they charge an arm an a leg (around ¥200,000|€1,300|$1,600) Euro for one. With a little more practice I expect to be showing them up. DesignQR has me just as mystified, charging around ¥57,000|€350|$475 for a monochrome code with a tiny emoji-like image embedded in it. The same thing with more than two colors will run you an extra ¥20,000 (you could do this yourself with GIMP in 2 minutes). I didn't manage to track down pricing for the Trillcode PC Encoder, but I am very interested in finding out. Even if it is pricey, at least your money goes for a tool that you can generate many codes with rather than a designer dot-box that will lose it's purpose hen your campaign is over. Hmmm, now I guess I am being too hard on Logo-Q and DesignQR.

DIY LogoQ

2007-06-03T15:14:00.000+09:00

About a month ago I wrote a little about Logo-Q and DesignQR and how they allow you to add images and logos within or integrated with QR-codes. It's not too difficult to see how they did it. Each QR-code can be broken down into pixel-like elements. If you just try to maintain the contrast between dark and light in the code you can make the codes much more interesting. When I get back to Holland I want to try this with some other barcode formats. These examples are a little crude, but not bad for 45 minutes of experimenting with Gimp. Especially considering that Logo-Q charges around 200,000 yen and up for one code. With a little refinement I could probably automate this:

Choose background color
Choose foreground color
Choose and place image
Choose dot pattern shape

Maybe I'll hack around with the Ruby qrencoder module or the qr-code Firefox addon.

Google Calendar and Checkout Go Mobile

2007-06-03T10:14:00.000+09:00

So Google calendar is now officially mobile. No more hacks or v-cal exports to my phone (not necessary, anyway). Plus you get a nice link to a map if the event contains location information. Also Google Checkout is mobile as well. Users verify their identity via PIN rather than account credentials. Can't wait to try it out. Now if they will just let people pay in euros and yen as well as dollars and pounds...

Mobile Monday Amsterdam!

2007-06-03T09:41:00.001+09:00

Wow! Just in time for my move to Holland. Now I won't have to take the train to Düsseldorf or Brussels to attend MoMo. Possible problem is that so far almost all correspondence is in Dutch and I have only just managed to learn how to order beer and ask people where they are from. Unfortunately I will not be able to attend the June 4 since I just came back to Tokyo to pack it in for Holland, but I definitely plan to be there regularly. Sadly I rarely made it to the Tokyo MoMo due to my company's love of late, long Monday meetings so I am doubly happy that I am moving to glorious Amsterdam.

Mobile Adverising: How do I focus this thing?

2007-06-03T09:15:00.000+09:00

Tom Wheeler, Managing Director at Core Capital Partners has recently published two articles on mobile marketing that draw a lot of parallels to cable television's advertising model. They are very interesting reads that got me thinking more deeply about distribution models of mobile advertising.

Mobile-related services are personal, but a one-to-one distribution model is costly to implement. Rather than trying to target "everyone" mobile marketing campaigns and ads can still target each individual, and this is easy to do on a mobile web site or with an SMS/email magazine. For casted media and programming, however, it becomes a little more difficult. If you are broadcasting a video feed to a wide audience, how can you target the users on an individual basis? Mr. Wheeler explains how the advertising landscape in the mobile space now closely resembles that of cable television in the 1970's. At first we tried to reach the widest audience possible, but niche programming channels directed at narrower demographics will more effectively target users and probably see a higher conversion rate, if not higher overall participation.

Targeted mobile services resemble a magazine rack at a large bookstore. Anyone who has picked up a fashion magazine (or certain tech magazines) knows that ads can make up more than 50% of it's content. Some people even buy them for the ads. Why? Because they are narrowly targeted and relevant. If only every other ad was pertinent to magazine's theme it would indeed be annoying and you would skip over them to avoid wasting time mentally filtering pages and pages of advertisements. Cable is similar in that I probably won't ever see a Hooter's commercial on Lifetime.

Television commercials are pretty broad in focus. Sure, you will see more toy commercials interleaved with Saturday morning cartoons than during a basketball game, but your favorite station doesn't know you. It just makes educated assumptions about your interests based on demographic research. Mobile services can get to know you though your profile information and behavioral analysis, not a just control group of people similar to you (though cross-referencing similar users is a good way to recommend new products to you). Your favorite mobile service has the means to know what you like, when you like it, what ads you have responded to, etc. If this information is being gathered, it may as well be applied in a way that improves the user experience.

As screens get sharper and larger and networks get faster, the audience will probably tolerate ads taking up display real estate more readily. This will also give marketers an opportunity to provide more interactive campaigns and more interesting incentives.

Back in T-Town

2007-06-02T10:06:00.000+09:00

Whew! I just got back from a very busy three weeks in Amsterdam. Between work, looking for an apartment, getting my papers processed and reporting back to Tokyo I had no time for blogging and little time for reading my usual amount of industry news. So I played catch-up this weekend and have been wading through my feeds for juicy mobile news. There was quite a lot of it to wade though! Now back in Tokyo I need to execute my exit plans (apartment, bank account, pension, furniture, utilities, etc.). And play with the new motion-sensor 904i DoCoMo phones before I fully relocate to Holland :).

Animated QR-Codes

2007-05-03T09:46:00.000+09:00

ITDesign, makers of DesignQR referred to in the previous post have come up with "movie QR", or animated QR-codes. Basically it looks like they are just animating the images that are embedded in the code. You can see an example below (rather long CM, skip to the last part to see the example).

Scan the code to visit the keitai site and download the follow-up video to find out if Black Jack is Japanese or a foreigner. As a bonus you get to see the kung-fu schoolgirls double-kick QR-Boy in the face. Nice.

QR-Cool

2007-04-26T15:41:00.000+09:00

There have been a lot of 2D-barcode upstarts as of late, most of them focusing on making their dot boxes attractive and marketing-friendly. QR-codes, the standard here in Japan, are looked upon as ugly or industrial-looking with low potential to be integrated into a company's look and feel.

Not so. Check out LogoQ and DesignQR. They crush most of the marketing claims touted by other companies, and they can be read with any standard QR-code reader. You know, the reader that comes standard in nearly all Japanese keitai and many Nokia devices. Go ahead, scan a sample.

Here are a few samples from LogoQ.

Here are a few from DesignQR.

A walk on the For-Side

2007-04-23T10:57:00.000+09:00

Terrie's Take has an insightful article about the rise and fall of For-Side in Europe and the circumstances surrounding their withdrawal from the European market. Definitely worth a read.

Mobile Marketing Trends in Japan

2007-04-22T18:41:00.000+09:00

eMarketer is running an article (tomorrow according to the date ;P) about how mobile marketing is seeing a revival in Japan. Using keitai as promotional tools is not new in Japan, but there has been some serious growth over the past year according to the referenced Dentsu 2006 Expenditure Report (PDF).

The use of mobile advertising in nationwide mass campaigns by clients in industries such as beverages and automobiles is already a well-established approach, and total spending in this medium rose to ¥39.0 billion (up 35.4%) in 2006.

Another referenced report from NPD Group indicates that 2D barcodes have become one of the most used features on Japanese mobile phones. Emarketer has made a nice chart:

Anyway, you should check out the original story at eMarketer and have a look at Dentsu's website for variety of free reports.