SEOUL, July 7 (Korea Bizwire) – When visitors enter the philodendron sector of the Korea National Arboretum, their smartphones display information, including videos, about various kinds of vines. When they head to the ornamental tree sector, their smartphones can introduce new information related to ornamental trees.
The Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning will implement a cyber guide service by using near field communication technology beacons that provide a variety of information integrated with Bluetooth 4.0. With the service, the arboretum will be able to offer related information to its visitors, regardless of their location on the premises.
The ministry plans to finish developing related applications and a pilot program within the year, and offer full-fledge service to arboretum visitors starting early next year.
Beacon, a next generation wireless communication technology following RFID and NFC, can offer information over a greater distance compared to RFID or NFC, which work over a range of 10cm to 100cm.
For smartphone users, the system automatically shows information about different sectors at the arboretum when they turn on their smartphone app.
An official at the ministry said, “As one of the convenient lifestyle information services using mobile technology, we decided to offer the cyber guide service at the national arboretum. We will offer the service early next year.”
By Kevin Lee (kevinlee@koreabizwire.com)