BlueCasting

BlueCasting is a new way to deliver content to mobile phones. The system comprises of a small BlueCast Server running our unique set of software services.

I may consider locating these at poster sites and at various points around the London Film Festival, the BlueCasting system will identify each consumer's BlueTooth-enabled handset and deliver a tailored message to them.

BlueCasting can deliver video clips for the films that are being shown throughout the event and this is possible due to the fact that Bluetooth file downloads are up to 10 times faster than downloading it via a mobile network, and since the content is delivered direct from a location based system there are no network charges for the consumer.

This software tool will allow the system to be highly personalised, tracking users and delivering them relevant content. I may even choose to send out discount vouchers to encourage event participants to visit the film festival screenings.

Click Here for a preview.

This idea has already been trialled by Mirimax and IBM:

Bobby : The Movie

Filter worked with Miramax and ScreenVision to provie users with exclusive clips from Bobby, the motion picture based on the assasination of Senator Robert F. Kennedy.

Bobby was directed by Emilio Estevez, who stars in the film along with a stellar cast including Harry Belafonte, Joy Bryant, Nick Cannon, Laurence Fishburne and Sir Anthony Hopkins.

As well as clips for mobile and PDA, Filter provided an SMS competition where film-goers could win a pair of tickets to a New York premiere.

Wimbledon 2006

IBM Uses BlueCasting for On-Demand Score Updates

Working with Ogilvy & Mather London we've BlueCast-enabled trees and grass at London's Broadgate financial centre.

Visitors are encouraged to activate Bluetooth and receive the very latests scores from Wimbledon, delivered via BlueCasting and a very clever XML feed which updates for the duration of the championship.

And yes, before you ask, we also have a 'rain stopped play' animation just in case the great British weather gets in the way.

Qwikker

After conducting further research into the filed of BlueCasting i found a company named Qwikker. Qwikker is a local and social content distribution platform for mobile devices that allows the easy and free discovery, downloading, and sharing of content. Qwikker’s solution enables companies to more effectively connect with their consumer by creating an interactive experience that delivers tailored, on-demand content, which can be downloaded onto mobile devices. The Qwikker platform can also be embedded into home media devices to streamline the transfer of both user generated and published content to and from mobile devices.
Qwikker runs the largest direct-to-mobile location content network in the world, with over 700 Bluetooth content distribution points across the UK and US. Brands which have leveraged the Qwikker network include Yahoo!, Channel 4, Electronic Arts, Universal Music, 20th Century Fox, Red Bull, Virgin Mobile, Robbie Williams/ie: music, Nokia and Universal Pictures.

This company interested me because they don't only look at ways to advertise directly to the customer, they look at interesting ways in order to capture their attention further and then encourage them to push on this advertising to their friends through further Bluetooth file transfers. For example they teamed up with Virgin Mobile for the 2006 Virgin Festival in order to publish a 'Virgin Bites' channel at specific hotspots around the event. This interactive channel would allow the user to browse and select music-related mobile content, which was relevant to them. Critically the Virgin content channel remains on the consumers’ handset, which is updateable over-the-air (OTA) – further extending the brand relationship.

This is an areas that i should explore with my final concept as not only may i be able to send film previews to the event participants but the channel would be able to be updated with new films each day of the event, therefore encouraging them to come back again or to visit for the first time if there is a film that interests them.

Visit the Qwikker website - Click Here

Final Concept

This slideshow is designed to give you an insight into my final concept. I have produced an animated video to help present my concept to my audience in order to best help them to understand my idea.

I also considered how i could incorporate my concept into other areas. For example the aim of the London Film week will be to generate interest surrounding the new films being launched and so therefore i would need as many people to see the previews as possible. I considered incorporating Bluetooth film preview points around the city. There would be billboards advertising the films throughout London and therefore i may chose to incorporate a way to send these previews via short distance Bluetooth signals to any member of the public that walks past. I could also incorporate this into coffee shops, bus stops and taxis etc. People would become aware that they could go to the screens and watch these new up and coming films without queuing and paying using their mobile phones.

The Constraints of Mobile Browsing

CLICK HERE
artefact supports Internet Explorer, Opera, Firefox and Netscape
to see my critique of mobile browsing and the constraints that it faces.

I produced my artefact on a PDA as this leant itself well to an ease of navigation as the user interacts with the device using an ‘anoto pen’ that works on a touch screen basis. The artefact starts with a movie clip of a user selecting the Internet on the small screen device. As soon as the Internet starts a costing bar is inserted at the top of the screen which goes up by ten pence every 5 seconds. This was to demonstrate how expensive mobile browsing can be and how this is what puts a lot of people off using it. The device then automatically loads a page called ‘text you can’t see’. This is based on a page I found from re-vision.com/hell called ‘big ugly banner’ which was designed to show the mistakes that web designers can make, however I adjusted this page to show how difficult it can be to view a page and all of the text on it from such a small screen. It included discrete banners that read ‘put your glasses’ on and ‘this is flat-out stupid’. The page purposely had very small text and lots of scroll bars to resemble how the user has to scroll on a small screen device if they want to see all of the information.

I produced a URL bar that was designed to show how difficult and time consuming it is just to enter a web address. I configured the URL bar so that it went to ebay.com by default. Once the address had been entered I created a loading bar that demonstrated how slow small devices can be to load simple pages. I inserted comments such as ‘bored yet?’ and ‘annoying eh’ to further demonstrate this point. Once the loading has completed the ‘overly simplified’ Ebay page is presented to the user. I came up with this idea to show how pages have to become extremely simplified in order for them to be viewed properly. I created this page so that it gave the user a very limited number of options. As soon as the user tried to interact with the page they are presented with a message that reads ‘this program has performed an illegal operation and will shut down’. This is to demonstrate how there are still many problems with these small devices and mobile browsing can often be interrupted. Once the device turns on and the Internet is once again selected the user is presented with a lastminute.com website which shows a selection of one hotel and then in the same format the remaining options read ‘there are loads and loads more hotels available, but they won’t fit. Sorry’ and ‘there is a free holiday available but you can’t see it because it is off the screen’. I wanted this to further emphasise how information has to be simplified in order for it to be viewed on the small screen and the user is often missing out on extra information etc.

From my research I considered how it might be commercial companies that are trying to stop progression towards mobile browsing, as there is little or no space for advertising. In order to resemble this I used a series of corrupt style images that flashed quickly on the device so to appear as if it was broken. This series then stops to read ‘you cannot use the Internet on your PDA as us companies are going to stop you as there is no room for advertising’ ‘got the message’. The screen then turns off once more and then when switched on again the ‘anoto pen’ selects the Internet. The user is then presented with a yahoo.com web page however they are quickly interrupted by a SMS message that reads ‘Jst thought I would txt you 2 interrupt ur browsing of the Internet. I thought that it would b real annoying. Is it? See u L8r M8’. This was created to demonstrate how easily mobile browsing can become interrupted as the devices does many more functions. The device reverts back to the yahoo.com page and now the user is given the chance to read the text on screen which is designed to show how long it can take to view a relatively small page by stating ‘if you want to see the whole page you will have to scroll up, down, left, right and diagonal and it will take you 1 hour just to view this page’.

I then wanted to show how difficult it can be to read text on screen due to glare, contrast, etc. I showed text on a background that competed with the colour of the text itself to demonstrate this point. I also created a page to follow this one to show how text is made up of pixels and how it is easier to read the more pixels that there are on screen as it becomes more defined. This is something that is somewhat of a challenge on a small screen as they have relatively low levels of dpi (dots per inch). I then wanted to show how it can be annoying for graphic designers to have there work viewed on a small screen as it cannot be fully appreciated so therefore I created a page with some graphic artwork on it along with some text from a graphic designer stating how the user cannot fully appreciate there work.

Finally I created a battery low warning. This was supposed to interrupt the user once they had got into the flow of using the Internet on this small screen. The device then runs out of battery to end the users browsing and complete the digital artefact.

Revised Idea - BFI London Film Festival

I have chosen to revise my idea that I had previously for the Cannes Film Festival and i have now changed it to the London Film Festival because after some research i discovered that it would be unlikely that the film corporations would allow the public to view the films before release, due to the fact that the Cannes Film Festival is designed for selling films.

Within the London Film Festival there are often many premiers of up and coming films, these may include independent dramatic films, documentary films, non-competitive showcase art films and Holly/Bollywood enforced films that will be shown worldwide. In order for the public to gain more interaction with this private event I have devised a way in which they can view the films immediately after the initial premiers.

The concept is as follows: there will be a large building containing many screens. This building will only hold screens, no kiosk, no pay desks, no nothing (maybe some toilets). The user will approach the doorway to any of these screens and will automatically be Bluetoothed a preview of the film being shown. The reason for this is because none of the general public will have seen any previews for the films as they will be in their infancy and will have only just presented their premiere. The user will then walk to any or all of the other screen entrances and, again, they will be sent a Bluetooth message containing a preview, this is so the user can choose which film to see.

Once the member has chosen which film they wish to view they will take a picture of a Semacode (a type of barcode that can be read using a photo from a camera phone) situated outside the entrance to the screen showing the required film. This Semacode will then be used to automatically deduct the cost of viewing the film from the users phone credit/balance. In response the user will receive an SMS message containing a code to enter at the entrance to the film.

Upon departure of the film the user may then deposit an SMS or Bluetooth message within a review pool located at a specified review hotspot. This review and many others written by the viewers can then be read by any potential future viewers. New customers would stand within range of the review pool and browse the comments left using their mobile web browsers. This will then aid their decision as to what film to watch along with the received previews. The reviews left by previous customers may also be automatically uploaded to an Internet site where people from all over the world will be able to see the comments.

I have also considered some other potential areas that could be incorporated into my idea. I realised the potential of targeting customers with similar interests as they leave the cinema at the end of the film using Bluetooth advertising. The cinema could send messages recommending other films that the viewers may consider watching. This would be successful as you will be able to stream influential messages to a group that have something in common (even if it is just the enjoyment of film). Therefore this is allowing the cinema to conduct specific advertising to a specific audience therefore possibly resulting in a higher success rate of the advertisements.


Do i know who my audience is?
The audience that I will be targeting will be those that enjoy cinema and film. This I realise, is a large audience, however as it is only limited to the event of the London Film Festival then it will be specifically targeted at those participating, visiting or surrounding the immediate event.

How do they consume media?
The audience will be consuming through cinema, but not only cinema, as in order to interact with the event they will be using their phones/PDAs as a platform to communicate and gain a richer experience from the event.

What do they enjoy doing?
Those participating within this area of the event are going to have an obvious interest in film and cinema. I should also consider that these people are going to be people that are interested in seeing films before anyone else and so therefore they are going to be the first group to advertise the film to. By targeting this enjoyment I can reach other potential customers through recommendation, either through word of mouth, PR or even the comments pools containing customer feedback.


Incorporated Technology

Bluetooth is an open specification for seamless short-range wireless data and voice communications between mobile and stationary devices. For instance, it specifies how mobile phones, computers and PDAs interconnect with each other, with computers, and with office or home phones. The first generation of Bluetooth permits the exchange of data up to a rate of 1mbps, even in areas with a great deal of electromagnetic disturbance. Bluetooth transmits and receives via a short-range radio link using a globally available frequency band (4.4Ghz ISM band).

I also considered using infrared technology to communicate with the user, however, this requires a direct line of site (up to 20 feet) between the two devices (comments pool and phone) and so therefore this would not be suitable if lots of people wanted to use the same technology at once.

WAP: Wireless Application Protocol is a secure specification that allows users to access information via hand-held wireless devices.

Roaming is the means by which a mobile phone links up to a different base station as they come within range.

SMS (Short Message Service) is a service available on most digital mobile phones (and other mobile devices, e.g. a Pocket PC, or occasionally even desktop computers) that permits the sending of short messages (also known as text messages) between mobile phones and other devices.

Semacode is the name for machine-readable ISO/IEC 16022 Data Matrix symbols which encode Internet URL’s. It is primarily aimed at being used with mobile phones which have built-in cameras. Using Semacode software, a URL can be converted into a type of barcode resembling a crossword puzzle, which is called a "tag". Tags can be quickly captured with a mobile phone's camera and decoded to obtain a Web site address.