Phygital

The term Phygital refers in general the blending of the physical and digital to create an ecosystem between the brand and consumer across the two worlds, but in fact it means integrating online and offline data person by person. Phygital can be understood as the physical and the digital as a single reality of each person and not as two separate entities.

In mid-2013 a phygital technology became popular, such as the Bluetooth-based iBeacon where, through a small emitting hardware, and provided that the user's smartphone is compatible with the signal the beacon emits, and also has the active bluetooth chip and in addition to the above has an application installed with the appropriate permissions on their phone, this application could read or scan the signals issued by the ibeacon to identify the physical presence of that person anywhere the ibeacons are located, without the need that the user interacts with an electronic device in that place. The practical problem of the ibeacon is that by requiring so many simultaneous requirements from visitors to a physical space, practically no one today uses this technology to this end, since less than 1% of the total number of visitors to a physical space in practice will be able to identify their presence in the physical world.

Phygital implies analyzing and understanding the activity of physical and digital as a single continuous or unique reality coming from the same source or person, that is why it is necessary to be able to relate through a unique identifier between online/digital and physical.

Applications

Applications are still to be explored, this term began to be used in the field of marketing, communication, but future applications have to do with many more areas such as the networks themselves, security, sports, commerce and business, transportation, leisure, management, etc.

Applications to other areas, especially artistic or ludic, are also possible.

Related technologies

Although authors like Juan Carlos Mejía and many other references published in diverse articles, could consider as phygital experiences and technologies of the type:

• QR codes
• Augmented reality markers [1]
• Light ID [2]

• The hashtag in a TV show, where a person uses a mobile application at the moment they are watching a TV show.
• Touchscreens
• RFID

Many other technologies can be included in this list, but all of them refer to the integration of physical aspects and digital technologies without the need for a unique identification of the person in both worlds. That is, although people use all kinds of digital technologies in the physical world, these technologies do not work under a phygital paradigm.

The difference is that these technologies are purely digital technologies that require the interaction of each person and the knowledge of the location of the electronic device to locate next to said device the person who uses it, that is, if the person does not interact, their presence in both worlds is not enough. There is no difference with the use of a computer or tablet, at home or in a store. Logically, if a person enters a store and types their personal data on the tablet of the entrance, we can unite in some way the presence of a physical person and its digital trace, or if a person enters a store and scans a QR code or is connected to a Wi-Fi or is identified with their personal data or with their credit card before the seller, it can note in the POS that said person has been in said store at that moment, and only by manual actions or interactions generated by the users we can link identifiers of both physical and digital worlds.

The technology Seeketing is the first that allows a true phygital environment, since it is not based on manual actions or the need for user interaction for its digital identification and its physical location, but in its simple presence in the physical world or in the digital world, thanks to carrying a smartphone on, which is being detected and identified in the physical world, and when used is being detected with the same identifier in the digital world. That is, it does not require the visitor to become a user and interact with any electronic equipment, but rather it is based on the fact that the visitor carries a smartphone in their pocket that is continuously emitting signals and therefore its presence can be detected univocally.

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