+49 (0) 228 76 76 9854

+49 (0) 228 76 76 9854

Home » Digital back­pack

Visitor reco­gni­tion and individual visitor content

Digital back­pack for visitors

When I, as a visitor, move through exhi­bi­tions with digital exhibits, I often think that I might like additional information on one topic or another or that I would like to take a look at the details at my leisure later. After all, the time in the exhi­bi­tion is limited and you also want to look at the other exhibits. Like­wise, I don’t just want to have information on every topic. Then I could simply look at the exhi­bi­ti­on’s website after­wards, if it provides the information. No, it would be nice if I could reca­pi­tu­late the topics I marked as inte­res­ting appro­pria­tely. Maybe I have even created very individual content for one or two exhibits in the form of images, texts, or videos that I would like to take a look at again or perhaps save for myself.

“Market rese­arch” for opera­tors

If I am the operator of the exhi­bi­tion, I am of course inte­rested in making my exhi­bi­tion more inte­res­ting through this service. This also gives me important insights as visitors tell me what is inte­res­ting and what is not.
For example, as an operator, I can collect statis­tics on which exhibits are most frequently accessed for additional information and which ones are accessed more rarely. Of course, you have to evaluate this information yourself. Is the topic or product inte­res­ting or is the exhibit inconspicuous so that it is little used? This could then be corre­lated with the basic use of the exhibit and the additional information desired by users.
All important insights for opti­mi­zing exhi­bi­tion and content.

Collect usage data for a better visitor experience

Iden­tify people and visits

Let’s start at the begin­ning. First of all, visitors need an ID. This means a unique identification.
Basi­cally, the number on the admis­sion ticket would be suffi­cient (as long as it is unique), but this would be quite incon­ve­nient, since this number would have to be entered at an exhibit. Ther­e­fore, two options have been estab­lished.

Option 1: QR code

The QR code can be printed on the admis­sion ticket or on the visi­tor’s mobile device.

Mobile QR code combined with fixed readers

With the second option, the ques­tion natu­rally arises: how does the QR code get onto the device? This requires prior regis­tra­tion, as a result, visitors receive the QR Code by message or they can scan it on the display at the regis­tra­tion station. Visitors have the QR code read out on an exhibit using a corre­spon­ding reader. Reco­gni­zing a QR code can some­times be a bit compli­cated. You know what happens when you want to read a QR code with your smart phone. The diffe­rence is that the QR code readers are perma­nently installed in the exhi­bi­tion and you have to place the QR code yourself until the reader reco­gnizes it.

Mobile app / website combined with QR codes of the exhibits

You can solve it the other way around if you use an app or website on your cell phone that allows you to read QR codes that are placed on the exhibits in digital or printed form. The appli­ca­tion then stores the content or links to the content locally.
Visitor holding smart phone with QR code
Customer with printed QR code

Option 2: RFID tags

An RFID tag contains nothing more than an individual number that can be read by corre­spon­ding readers on the exhibits. Since the detec­tion does not work opti­cally, but the tag only has to be moved over a marked area, the hand­ling is very easy.
RFID tags can also be inte­grated into the admis­sion ticket, i.e. they can be paper-thin or issued to visitors in all possible formats, for example as plastic cards, key rings or wrist­bands, etc.
Care should be taken to ensure that the IDs are only valid from the moment they are issued. In other words: If visitors use an RFID tag on an exhibit, a query should be made via a central API as to whether this is a known ID because RFID tags are found in many devices today. If this is not checked, visitors could also use their key card from the hotel, for example. Theo­re­ti­cally, however, this can also be a deli­be­rate scenario.

MEGA Brewery Exhi­bi­tion — Spain

Anony­miza­tion or perso­na­liza­tion? A ques­tion of data protec­tion

Link personal information

During the assign­ment process, the ID is enri­ched with personal data. In the simp­lest case, this is an email address or a name and pass­word so that visitors* can log in at home via the exhi­bi­tion site and access the content they have marked. Of course, any data can be assi­gned in this process.
The assign­ment is not manda­tory. As long as the ID is only used locally, visitors can use it to move anony­mously through the exhi­bi­tion and collect information. However, the content can then only be viewed locally, i.e. in the exhi­bi­tion.
There are several ways to assign an ID.

Possibility 1:

Once visitors have received their ID, they can register them­selves at a terminal and add data via an inter­face. The data is stored centrally and an exhibit can access the data via an API as neces­sary, for example, to greet visitors by name or to adjust the depth of information accor­dingly for children or adults.
Tech­ni­cally, it is also possible for visitors to log in at a terminal using a Google, Apple, Face­book (etc.) account. This makes it very easy for visitors to log in from home and access content.
However, this is a tech­ni­cally complex solu­tion, as it requires an OpenID Connect provider to handle the regis­tra­tion at the exhi­bi­tion.

Possibility 2:

The exhi­bi­tion opera­tors them­selves connect the additional data with the ID, for example at the entrance or the cash desk. To do this, visitors must agree to the data protec­tion user agree­ment in advance.
Since it is cumber­some and, depen­ding on the information, ques­tionable in terms of data protec­tion law, the opera­tors them­selves usually do not ask verbally for the data, but ratherconnect already exis­ting data of the visitors with the ID. The data itself may have already been created in advance: either by the visitors them­selves, by means of regis­tra­tion via a website, or in the case of corpo­rate exhi­bi­tions and show­rooms often also by people from sales/marketing via a CMS.

Proce­dure

The assign­ment does not neces­s­a­rily have to happen at the begin­ning of the visit. Visitors can also first “collect” content anony­mously and, if they are inte­rested, i.e. if they want to use the content after visi­ting the exhi­bi­tion, assign the ID to the respec­tive login data.

“I would like to collect my personal content during the visit
and look at it later in peace.”

“Collect” content

The appli­ca­tions on the exhibits are comple­tely auto­nomic. The moment the exhibit soft­ware offers visitors to put content such as images, PDF, videos, text, etc. into the “back­pack”, it commu­ni­cates this to the server via an API. The server then acti­vates the reader.
Since it may not be clear to visitors what to do at that moment, it makes sense for the reader to give a visual feed­back. In the case of the inSyn­ergie RFID readers, these are 24 LEDs that can change color or display a move­ment pattern.
After visitors briefly hold their RFID tag to the reader, the server checks whether the ID is valid and informs the exhibit of this via the API.
The exhibit then tells the server what content should be assi­gned to the visitors.
To ensure a consis­tent appearance, the API offers additional func­tions, such as querying texts. This means that the text displayed by the exhibit in diffe­rent situa­tions can be defined centrally. For example: “Please swipe your RFID bracelet over the reader now” or “Use your card now”.

rfid reader chassis with customizable printed surface acrylic glass
rfid reader chassis with customizable printed surface acrylic glass
rfid reader chassis with customizable printed surface acrylic glass

inSyn­ergie RFID readers with individual surfaces and for various instal­la­tion situa­tions

Access the content

A distinc­tion must be made, from where the visitors want to access their content.

On the one hand, from a device within the exhi­bi­tion orwithin the exhi­bi­tion IT, for example from a special terminal in the exhi­bi­tion building. Here the visitors can also log in directly with their physical ID (i.e. RFID or QR-code) and view their content.
On the other hand, the second option, which certainly requires more care imple­men­ting, access from personal devices that are not part of the internal IT system . For this purpose, it is advi­sable to create a web page for access, for example in the form of a micro­site.
Of course, visitors can still be inside the exhi­bi­tion if, for example, they want to access the Internet via mobile device. This ther­e­fore requires the page to be updated in real time.
To enable this access, it is recom­mended that the pages that visitors wish to access should be hosted via a common internet provider, as other­wise, the exhi­bi­tion operator would have to operate a publicly acces­sible HTTP server in the exhi­bi­ti­on’s IT.
Since the design of the pages and the various options for data access are very individual, we are happy to offer appro­priate individual support, advice and imple­men­ta­tion.
As long as visitors to the exhi­bi­tion have created their access data for the micro­site, they can now access the data they have compiled from anywhere. It is also the possible to combine several visits. This means linking the “new” ID with the “old” account on your next visit.

downloading content everywhere, woman using mobile-phone and laptop in car
Group of young visitors
Multi-User software: Employees are gathered around a computer screen to evaluate the status of the building in NeuroomNet monitoring

Imple­men­ta­tion

With our NeuroomNet product, you can not only conve­ni­ently manage general media tech­no­logy in exhi­bi­tions, but NeuroomNet addi­tio­nally offers many func­tions to inte­grate a visitor management:

  • Provi­sion of exhibits API
  • Provi­sion of the soft­ware API
  • RFID reader commu­ni­ca­tion
  • Flexible media control
Multi-User software: Employees are gathered around a computer screen to evaluate the status of the building in NeuroomNet monitoring

Expe­ri­menta gGmbH Heil­bronn

Multi-User software: Employees are gathered around a computer screen to evaluate the status of the building in NeuroomNet monitoring
Multi-User software: Employees are gathered around a computer screen to evaluate the status of the building in NeuroomNet monitoring
Multi-User software: Employees are gathered around a computer screen to evaluate the status of the building in NeuroomNet monitoring

Learn more about Neuro­om­Net’s features

More Infos