Digital Representations of Intelligent Products: Product Avatar 2.0

Abstract

Customer expectations towards products are constantly increasing. They are not limited to product quality alone but also include the accompanying services and information provided. Intelligent Products allow the retrieval and communication of large amounts of information from all stages of the product lifecycle. Customers have become used to user-centric presentation and customizable information presentation from their experience with the Web 2.0 and Social Networks. Implementing Product Avatars as parts of Social Networking Services (SNS) as digital representations of physical products allows the presentation of individually customized information in a familiar environment for different stakeholders. This can raise the acceptance and the lower the adoption threshold for Product Avatars by increasing their availability and usability on both stationary and mobile devices.