Coupon Collector
Spontaneous interaction in public places has evolved as crucial concern in interaction design, particularly in the domain of public advertising. Implicit interaction is a mode of spontaneous interaction in which the user is not attentively or explicitly expressing input to a system, but the system is observing the user and, considering all the available information that describes the user's situation, and behaves accordingly. We have investigated implicit interaction as a potentially effective means to design for spontaneous interaction in the public.
An en passant coupon collection system has been developed to implement an implicit interaction based pervasive advertisement process. The Coupon Collector is based on scanning and identifying Wi-Fi hotspots by their BSSID.It has been implemented for internet enabled smart phones. Scenarios demonstrate how the system collects bonus points, rewards, sales coupons, vouchers, coins, etc. by just walking by points of interest like stores, bus stops, schools or offices. The Coupon Collector is neither depending on a specifically preconfigured Wi-Fi infrastructure, nor is it engaged in wireless data communication. It thus encourages for a parasitic use of existing Wi-Fi networks (already available in public places like shopping malls, airports, train stops, stations or city centers) as a pervasive advertisement system.
