Passengers on public transit in Aberdeen are now taking advantage of new technology based entertainment.
Commuters taking the public transit buses in Aberdeen, Scotland now have a brand new augmented reality experience available to them that will allow them to gain a great deal more entertainment out of their rides.
Through the use of mobile devices, they can now enjoy high tech entertainment while onboard.
Using smartphones and tablets, passengers on these Scottish are able to open up an interactive video channel that gives the viewer the choice to view a range of different content, including information about the transit services, interviews with staff, movie trailers, and even the ability to purchase tickets or surf the web.
There are 35 First Aberdeen buses that have been equipped with this augmented reality feature.
To make this service more readily available to a larger number of mobile devices, the buses also feature free WiFi for riders. This initiative has been generating a considerable amount of activity from passengers. In fact, since it first launched in November, there have been thousands of individuals who have accessed the content available through this AR channel.
All that riders need to do to access the AR material is to follow the instructions on the bus seat backs for downloading the free First Scotland app from Google Play or the Apple App Store. The app makes it possible to aim the mobile device at the seat back to trigger the video channel so that it can be streamed into the smartphone or tablet.
According to the General Manager of First Aberdeen, Duncan Cameron, “Our new augmented reality channel brings our seat backs to life and I hope makes bus travel that little bit more interesting and enjoyable.” He also went on to say that the transit system believes that they are the first company of that nature around the globe that has implemented AR tech on the backs of bus seats in order to help to encourage ridership on their vehicles. The sheer number of uses that the feature has seen until now has revealed the type of interest that this can, indeed, draw.
WeChat hosts new application that seeks to modernize an old tradition
Tencent has launched a new mobile application for WeChat users. WeChat is the most popular messaging application in China, and Tencent has been working on ways to monetize the app for some time. The company has taken a strong interest in mobile commerce and has seen the success that online retailers and digital companies have discovered by engaging mobile consumers. As such, the new application for WeChat users aims to leverage the traditional hongbao.
App puts a new twist on the honbao and Chinese New Year
The hongbao is a red envelop or packet that is traditionally given as a gift during Chinese New Year and, in some cases, weddings and typically contain money. As Chinese consumers become more mobile, traditions are beginning to become digitized. Tencent’s new “New Year Red Envelope” application is meant to put a new twist on the hongbao. Using the application, people can send digital red envelopes that contain digital currency. The application can be used for much more than exchanging money, however.
New application could encourage mobile payments through the WeChat platform
WeChat users making use of the application can also allow the application decide how to distributes funds amongst a group of recipients. For instance, if a person sends $50 to eight friends, the application can determine that one friend receives $30 while the others receive a smaller sum. Tencent believes that this creates a sense of suspense among WeChat users and encourages them to spend more money through the new application.
Tencent continues to find ways to monetize WeChat and promote mobile commerce
Consumers have to link their bank accounts to WeChat in order to make use of the new application. Tencent has been working to break into the mobile commerce arena through the WeChat platform and the new hongbao application may be the key to Tencent’s goals. The new application may help encourage users to spend money on WeChat’s in-app payment services by making them more comfortable with the concept of mobile payments and sending money through the use of a mobile device.
