Location-based services: understanding the Japanese experience

In 2004, DTI Global Watch Missions enabled small groups of UK experts to visit leading japanese technology organisations to learn vital lessons about innovation and its implementation of benefit to in the field of LBS. They came back with the report Location-based services: understanding the Japanese experience to provide implication for the UK LBS market. The report is divided into eight chapters such as LBS used in Japan, the importance of emergency location and privacy, Mapping and QR codes, Handset manufacturers, operators. In brief, the findings limits to adoption of A-GPS enabled handsets, emergency location policies and the upcoming Satellite-based augmentation systems (SBAS).

Relation to my thesis: Besides, the clear lack of a user-centered perspective (people habits, context of use, cultural differences), the reports states the hype around the use of LBS in Japan: “the GPS enabled LBS market in Japan has taken off, but not to the extent reported by some of the western press“. I sometimes also here this skepticism at Mobile Monday events. I guess I will need to see it for myself to define what is hype and what is reality. Some recommendations of the report (IMOHO rather naively reported) highlights some issues my work touches:

“The user experience of A-GPS positioning systems is that the accuracy is good enough, but the main criticism remains the time taken to get the first position fix.”

“Look towards having ‘hybrid’ positioning solutions, to provide some level of positioning in the absence of GPS”

Finally, the conclusion that “To date, the revenues to the operators and content suppliers are relatively low in comparison with that from LBS services that use lower accuracy network-based positioning, but growing” might support my approach on the mismatch between the expected and delivered location information quality and timeliness (as I intended to model a couple of months ago).