Physical Web

Internet of things has given rise to several possibilities. Every device around us can potentially communicate with some system and thereby with us. Physical Web is an extension of this idea, proposed by Google, which uses the BLE and Beacon technology to manifest this big idea.

What is Physical Web?

Physical Web extends the web to include physical objects around us. It is an ecosystem where smart devices broadcast one or more URLs which is a low-range signal. A display device in that area such as a mobile or tablet can pick up these signals and show it to the users on request. The URL could lead the user to a web page or web app and thus opens infinite possibilities about what could be achieved.

Physical Web
Physical Web Example [Source: https://github.com/google/physical-web]
The smart devices use BLE i.e. Bluetooth Low Energy as it is already available on mobile devices and tablets. Although this could change in future. BLE, being energy efficient, the smart device can continue to transmit signal up to 2 years continuously using a single coin cell.

Use cases

  • A pet could have a locket that transmits tracking URL and nearby people can easily track the pet to their owner. [Video]
  • A mall could setup URL showing offers running in that mall. Visitors can see all offers at one place.
  • A mall could transmit an URL which shows the map of the mall and locations of various shops in the mall.

These signals are not notifications. So commuters in that are will not be pestered with the alarms or notifications. It will be users choice to see the nearby signals and take action. As the smart devices in the physical web grow, there would be some proxy services/applications which could potentially filter out certain signals or provide ranking/sorting/searching facilities. This would be tremendously useful in a crowded area like a mall where potentially every shop can beam out the signal.

The communication between the smart device and mobile or tablet happens using Eddystone Open beacon format developed by Google. It works with Android as well as iOS devices.

This technology could be considered as the next step of active RFID tags where tags communicate a specific data with the scanner. In the physical web, the communication is using a beacon and an URL.

Related Links

Related Keywords

Eddystone, Internet Of Things, BLE, NFC, RFID, OBD

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