Google’s UriBeacon is a project under their Physical Web initiative whose main aim is DIGITAL to PHYSCAL convergence. The UriBeacon project was launched in 2014 to explore how to use BLE technology to share URLs. The UriBeacon protocol uses BLE to transmit a basic URL or short weblink that can be detected by nearby mobile devices. This ‘link’ can then drive a user to a web page that corresponds to content associated with that beacon.
Moreover you do not need a specialized app to read that link, all you need is a UriBeacon browser which can read that URL (more and more browser will add this feature with the time). There will be 2 options in the browser to identify a UriBeacon
- Automatic Mode – Whenever your smartphone enters in the proximity of a beacon the URL link will be notified.
- Manual Mode – In manual mode you need to search every time you want to scan a beacon.
The benefit with this approach is that one app(browser) intended to detect UriBeacons can serve all beacons regardless of what brand, or owner they are associated with.
The potential of the Physical Web Concept is huge as cost of entry and time to deploy is a couple of order of magnitude lower as compared to other technologies.
These search results could provide a jumping off point to a wealth of information, media and rich interactive content in the same way the Google results page does today. So in a nutshell these UriBeacon act as a Physical Web showing results of the locale on your mobile phone.