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Interacting with Patrons Through Their Mobile Devices

Mobile technologies, specifically smartphones, have become a peripheral appendage to our everyday experience. We often see individuals oblivious to current surroundings exhibiting dedicated attention to their mobile devices. This behavior is often viewed in a negative light; however, with the level of global media engagement people are able to achieve with these devices, it can be hard to blame them. The ability to participate in social media, sending quick messages to friends, listen to music, watch videos, surfing the web, fact check information, or even read a great book, is all right in your hand.

When attempting to interact with patrons through technology, utilizing their familiarity with their mobile device can help to achieve a more positive experience. This is when “Let’s build an app” is often reverberated. Although that is a great idea, it is a complex development process and there are a number of ways to achieve interactive experiences without the development of a new mobile application.

Over the course of the next several blog posts, I will be discussing various methods of interacting with patrons mobile devices to enhance their experiences through the use of QR codes, NFC (Near Field Communication) tags, and BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) Beacons. Each of these technologies allow for a different experience, and have areas where they excel and falter, but when incorporating each technology appropriately they can create a comprehensive interactive experience to enhance information seeking.

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