Estimote aka “OS For The Physical World” delivers beacon for precise, close encounter location aware applications

The great weakness of location aware mobile apps is precision and location relevance. Mobile apps that are supposed to push to you info about the place you are at rely on GPS signals to pull in information. Even when very precise, they cannot really tell how are you situated and what you are looking at. Sensors built into Google Glass or mobile phone can also help, but there is still a margin of error. The great promise of Estimote is that it can triangulate your position very precisely, using bluetooth technology and that it can push info to you in a very relevant way. In a way, the burden of location accuracy and information relevancy is moved from the device to the beacons. Retail would be a first area of application, but I am thinking that visitor experiences can be vastly improved by this technology, especially if married to a more mature version of Google Glass or Vuzix augmented reality glasses.

Estimote is a technology startup that is engaged in building a sensor-based analytics and engagement platform. We developed what we like to call an operating system for physical locations—one that will change how people run businesses in the physical world and how consumers interact with real-world products and venues.

Our primary area of interest at this moment is brick and mortar retail stores. More than 90 percent of transactions worldwide are still made in physical venues. More importantly, more than half of consumers who visit stores have smartphones, and that number is growing rapidly.

Thanks to popular communication technologies such as Bluetooth and WiFi, there are exciting new opportunities to understand how people behave and engage with products in stores.

New data and communication technology can be used to improve customer experience, bringing in new revenue streams for retail stores or cutting their costs. We call this smart retail.

We are currently piloting our solutions with the largest retailers in the United States and Europe. We have also launched preorder sales of our Developer Kits, which consist of sample beacon devices, as well as our SDK, which enables mobile developers and retail consulting agencies to add micro-location context to their mobile apps.

via Estimote Creator Talks About Building An “OS For The Physical World” | TechCrunch.