Hi all,
I thought I'd share my initial experiences using and user-testing the new RemoteTouch feature. Generally I see a lot of potential with RemoteTouch. Functionality wise, I found it a breeze to implement and already have a custom HTML page with the JavaScript API plugged in. Phone and screen are talking (yay). Some documentation for the API (as well as any other methods available) would be great.
Note: this isn't a criticism at the RemoteTouch dev team in any way – I understand this feature is still in development and it will continue evolve. Simply – here's a usage scenario I have, and some issues I've faced.
SignageStudio Campaign Setup:
1. My main timeline (i.e the the non RemoteTouch state)
2. Welcome to RemoteTouch timeline (1 minute duration, set to Auto Resume - this is my 'time out' should the customer walk away without exiting their RemoteTouch session on their phone) [Essential IMO]
3. A selection of timelines (for my demo, this is a range of product videos the customer can select from)
Real world usage (with all timelines set to auto resume)
1. Customer scans the QR code and activates our 'welcome screen' – a custom web page loads in their browser with the option to select from a range of videos (each one of these buttons triggers the sendRemoteTouch function as per the tutorial video).
2. The customer watches the product video, it finishes and the main timeline resumes as expected.
[Issue] The customer's session has automatically expired (unbeknownst to them) and tries to click another video. The UI doesn't respond. In this situation, the user is expected to scan a new QR code to start another RT session. By this stage, they have lost interest/have not realised this and walked away.
Alternatively, we could set our timelines to manual resume:
1. As before, the customer scans the QR code and activates our 'welcome screen' – a custom web page loads with our buttons, etc.
2. The customer watches the product video, enjoys it but walks away from the screen (note: the timeline is set to manually resume).
[Issue] The screen is 'locked in' its RemoteTouch state. As we're relying on the user to manually trigger the 'Resume Presentation' event, this scenario has frequently occurred in real life testing.
[Potential fix/solution] To supplement the auto resume/manual resume option – how about a the ability to select a timeline to resume to – e.g. go back to our welcome message. This would allow us to give feedback to the user (select another video) and by setting Auto Resume on this timeline, we could effectively create our own 'time out' by setting the timeline duration.
[Interim workaround] I'm extending each timeline beyond the desired length (by 1 minute) and using a Common Channel (so I don't have to duplicate content) to display a consistent 'Select another video' message. Each timeline will auto-resume. By doing this I've effectively added a window of opportunity for the user to retain control of the screen. Not ideal, but it works.
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Other experiences/issues we've encountered.
[1] The user returns to a store and fires up their (previously used) RemoteTouch web page (in most QR code apps you can see previously used codes, so this will happen in some cases). The RemoteTouch web page loads – but for the consumer – it just doesn't work. There's currently no way (from an implementation standpoint) for us to check/authenticate a users RemoteTouch session and send them feedback. Having a simple Success/Fail check for the on page load would allow us to build a better customer experience.
[2] When using Manual Resume, is there a session/timeout length for RemoteTouch? In theory, will a user be able to control the screen for as long as they desire, until they click 'exit' on their web page. If someone walks away without exiting – would the screen in theory be 'locked in' its RemoteTouch state?
[3] I'm trying to find a use-case for manual resume (happy to hear from anyone using this) – it appears to rely too much on the customer triggering 'Resume Presentation' (but from experience to date, they will no doubt walk away/close their browser etc without doing so).
Keep up the great development, there's much potential.
MB
