Press The Plastic

When two Poken do the high four they exchange details via a short range wireless protocol. But which protocol? Is it Bluetooth? RFID? Or something else?

The answer is “something else”.

Bluetooth was not considered appropriate, presumably because of its relatively high power requirements. It’s also a fairly heavyweight protocol for the simple data exchange required by Poken.

Many people have speculated that Poken use RFID, a theory fuelled by the fact that some people have used their Poken to detect RFID readers. However whilst Poken use a frequency that overlaps with RFID they don’t use the same protocol. As Poken founder Stephane Doutriaux explains, RFID is designed around a chip-reader scenario, not the peer-to-peer communication required for Poken interaction.

So the Poken SA went ahead and designed their own short range, lightweight protocol. They describe it as “patented RF communication technology”. If anyone really wants more technical details you could probably dig out the patent.

It’s always a clever bit of marketing when a product can create a new catch-phrase. In the case of Poken the term “High Four” has quickly come to be associated with the brand. Pokens have four fingers and pairing Pokens is described as doing the high four, analogous to doing the high five in the flesh.

So what’s the story behind this clever marketing decision? It’s clearly not a technical limitation, there’s plenty of space for a fifth finger. Was it perhaps a reference to the habit of drawing four cartoon characters with four fingers? Or was it a deliberate ploy to create a branding tool.

Er, no. It turns out it was a lucky accident! Poken founder Stephane Doutriaux explains that they chose “high four” simply because there’s already a social network called Hi5.

It’s a great example of how to take a restriction and turn it into a marketing benefit.

Photo Credit: googlisti (Creative Commons)

In the last post I talked about why we need Poken, this time I’m going to answer the question What is a Poken?.

Poken is not another social network, we’ve got enough of those. Instead it’s a system for managing your online contacts and exchanging details when you meet new people. It’s a virtual business card with a physical element.

Essentially a Poken device is a USB stick drive with some clever software and a unique short range communication technology (not RFID or Bluetooth). The “hand” also contains a button with status LEDs. The cute “character” is simply a plastic shell to protect the USB connector. Poken are battery operated and according to the official site the battery should last about six months in “normal” use, however that’s defined.

Each Poken has it’s own unique serial number. When you first buy your Poken you plug it in to your Mac or PC (no device drivers needed) and it appears as a USB drive. You then click on the HTML file to visit the official website and register your device. Once registered you enter details of as many or as few social networks as you wish to form your “virtual business card”.

When two Poken are brought into close proximity (”do the high four”) the LEDs flash and they exchange IDs. When you next plug your it uploads these contacts and shows you their online networking details. A Poken can hold up to 64 new contacts before they need to be uploaded.

It’s a simple yet very clever idea which solves a real problem. Combined with the marketing genius of using the plastic protection units as a cute selling point it should be a winner.