A startup from Singapore has developed a unique app that could shake up television viewing.
The app – called HEY! Shake – developed by Nanyang Technological University and allows viewers to interact with television or video screens, enabling them to, for example, buy items pictured in the broadcast simply by shaking their phones.
The team believes the technology provides new opportunities for marketers as the industry moves toward digital.
The app – called HEY! Shake – is out of Nanyang Technological University and allows viewers to interact with television or video screens, enabling them to, for example, buy items pictured in the broadcast simply by shaking their phones
The team behind the app is currently running a pilot test on the university campus.
‘The new HEY! Shake opens up a new avenue of internal communication via our campus screens, which can inform our students of interesting activities and news,’ NTU professor and Associate Provost for Student Life Kwok Kian Woon, said.
The app – available for Android and iOs – can be used to allow for interaction in different ways.
In the test pilot at the university, users only have to open the app, shake their phone at a video screen, and then they’ll be brought to various online content sites such as Facebook, Instagram, or the NTU HEY! Magazine to win prize.
In the test pilot at the university, users only have to open the app, shake their phone at a video screen, and then they’ll be brought to various online content sites such as Facebook, Instagram, or the NTU HEY! Magazine to win prize
It could also allow a viewer watching a show at home buy the same outfit or accessories worn by an actor with a single shake of the mobile phone.
The researchers believe it demonstrates the potential of converting passive viewers into potential customers for broadcasters, movie theaters, video content providers, and digital advertising screens.
‘Not only can our technology make video social again but also interactive by allowing product placements and relevant information to be directly accessible to the viewer with just a simple shake of the phone,’ associate professor Wen Yonggang, who invented the technology powering the app, said.
NTU Associate Professor Wen Yonggang and Cloud Wings head of product and business development Xia Ye holding the HEY! Shake app with an campus video playing in the background
He is also director of the Innovation Lab at NTU Singapore’s School of Computer Science and Engineering and developed the app in conjunction with the school’s spin-off company Cloud Wings.
The founding team has received grants from various government agencies and the Singapore MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART).
The app was launched in early August and ranked as one of the hottest apps on both iOS App Store and Google Play in that week, getting 3,500 downloads during a test at the university’s Freshmen Welcome Ceremony alone.
It uses a patent-pending technology called AirSense, which detects sound patterns encoded in the audio track to recognize which video the user is watching.
The app then connects to the cloud servers to pull related content such as additional videos, websites or lucky draws.
This technology could be part of Singapore’s transformation into a smart nation, said Xia Ye, head of product and business development at Cloud Wings.
It uses a patent-pending technology called AirSense, which detects sound patterns encoded in the audio track to recognize which video the user is watching. The app then connects to the cloud servers to pull related content such as additional videos, websites or lucky draws
‘We hope that this ‘Shake Fever’ will continue to spread across the NTU campus and the country, as the technology can be scaled up to all displays screens, such as those at MRT stations, bus stops, movie theatres and even on public transport,’ he said.
‘As long as there is a display screen and speakers, our technology can work seamlessly.’
The team has a plan to expand into three sectors: advertising, home-shopping TV and virtual coupons.
For the first, the team sees this as an advanced method of product placement, in which users can ‘shake’ their phones when they see a product that interests them to access the e-commerce site to purchase the product advertised.
The second is to convert TV shopping networks into e-commerce platforms that make it easier and more direct than ever to buy off TV.
For virtual coupons, the team sees an application in which viewers can shake their phone to receive e-coupons or discount vouchers to be redeemed at physical stores.