Signature Q3 2008

By Karen D. Schwartz | Photos by Josh Anderson | Q3 ’08 Chattanooga is full of history, culture and natural beauty, but tourists tend to focus on major attractions and miss the ﬁner details of Tennessee’s fourth-largest city. Civic leaders wanted people to fully experience the richness of the area – everything from its Civil War and Native American history to its renowned freshwater aquarium and architectural highlights. The city works hard to attract 3 million visitors annually, but members of Chattanooga’s local-history task force knew that to increase tourism and make historic sites more attractive to visitors, it had to take a step toward the future. That meant thinking beyond static historical markers to something that would catch the attention of younger, more tech-savvy tourists. “There is a new generation of learners who are more comfortable with technology they can carry around in their hand and are less willing to read old-fashioned markers and brochures,” says Jim Frierson, task force leader and director of the Kruesi Center for Innovation. After a year of research into different technologies, Frierson found Hypertag, a U.K.-based developer of Bluetooth enabled “Hypertags” that store and transmit digital content such as images, animation, music ﬁles and video. Hypertags, about the size of a ﬁst, can be attached to signage, posters, museum exhibits – anywhere an organization wants to make content available to people. Parachute Marketing Group, Hypertag’s U.S. partner, has been collaborating with the task force. Rafﬁ With Bluetooth technology and a little Vartian, Parachute’s director of proximity ingenuity, Chattanooga plans to be ahead marketing, is taking the lead on a system that will push content to visitors at various of the curve with on-demand information locations around Chattanooga; Frierson is at notable historic and cultural sites. working with task force members to gather content for each site. Once implemented, the system will revolutionize how people experience Chattanooga. A visitor with a Bluetooth enabled cell phone can simply stand near a historical marker or structure that has been outﬁtted with a Hypertag. Once the user opts in, the Hypertag can deliver historical, educational and cultural content via General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) over a Bluetooth wireless connection directly to the user’s phone. For example, visitors to the site of the nation’s ﬁrst Coca-Cola bottling plant could read the signage and hear an audio recording of how two innovative Chattanooga lawyers approached the inventor of Coca-Cola in 1899 and bought U.S. bottling rights for $1. They could even download and view still images, watch a video tour and respond to a quiz. “Our goal is to tell these authentic stories in ways that are compelling to our audience,” Frierson says. That’s why the task force decided Bluetooth technology was ideal for the project. Compared with other technologies, it’s inherently more mobile, robust and ﬂexible. “Bluetooth has the ability to transmit on demand: not to broadcast to those who don’t want it, but to respond to those who do with text, video, audio and images – all without requiring Wi-Fi coverage,” Frierson explains. “And it can respond to varying layers of interest and curiosity on the part of visitors. It’s not one-size-ﬁts-all.” The ﬁrst phase of the pilot project rolled out this spring, with one Hypertag installation. Later this year, phase two will launch up to 12 sites. During this pilot period, networked sites will capture vital information, including the number of downloads, the type of information downloaded and visitor dwell time for each site. The feedback will help the task force design the complete system, which is expected to cover dozens of signiﬁcant sites in 2009. “We want to observe how our visitors are using the content, see what works and maximize the visitor experience,” Frierson said. “With the combination of Bluetooth and Hypertag, we know we can do that.” Karen D. Schwartz writes about business and technology for publications such as CIO, InfoWeek and Business 2.0. She’s based in Washington, D.C. INTERACTIVE 22 | SIGnature | Bluetooth.org Wireless Tourism Bluetooth Technology http://bluetooth.org

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Signature Q3 2008

Signature Q3 2008 Contents Connect: Growing Markets Inbox: Spread the Word Ask the SIG: The Fast Lane In the News Perspectives: Views From APAC Bluetooth Technology in Retrospect: Headset History Bluetooth Technology in Retrospect: Headset History Bluetooth Technology @ Play: Unplug Your Fun Bluetooth Technology Interactive: Wireless Tourism Checkout: Groovy Gadgets Bluetooth Wireless Explorer: Mind Games Bluetooth Technology 101: Ads You Like It Bluetooth Technology 501: Group Efforts Wacky Apps: What’s NXT? Get in the Game: If The Glove Fits ... Revolution: The Space Age

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.