google/physical-webArchived
Physical Web
Physical Web is a physical-to-digital interaction framework and wireless object discovery protocol. It connects physical beacons to web URLs via wireless advertisement packets, allowing users to access digital content and trigger web-based interactions without the need for dedicated native applications.
The system utilizes a Bluetooth Low Energy beacon system and a web link broadcaster to transmit public addresses to nearby mobile devices. To ensure cross-hardware discovery, it supports multi-protocol broadcasting across Bluetooth, mDNS, and SSDP. Privacy is maintained through the use of obfuscated links and rotating keys to prevent unauthorized tracking of physical beacons.
The framework covers proximity-based interaction, including beacon scanning, signal-strength ranking, and the triggering of object detection notifications. It also manages the extraction and storage of smart object metadata, such as titles, descriptions, and favicons, while providing utilities for physical beacon provisioning.
Features
- Smart Object Connectivity - Enables users to interact with physical devices via web links, removing the need for native apps.
- BLE Advertisements - Implements Bluetooth Low Energy advertising packets to broadcast web links for device discovery without formal connections.
- Beacon-to-URL Mapping - Connects physical beacons to web URLs via wireless advertisement packets to provide access to digital content.
- Physical-Digital Bridges - Provides a bridge that links physical objects to digital web resources.
- Beacon Scanning - Detects nearby smart object beacons using compatible hardware interfaces to identify available physical web links.
- BLE Beacon Systems - Implements a system for broadcasting web URLs via wireless advertisement packets.
- Multi-Protocol Discovery - Scans the immediate area for broadcasted web addresses using mDNS, SSDP, and UPnP.
- Link Broadcasting - Transmits web links through low energy advertising packets for nearby user discovery without a formal connection.
- Multi-Protocol Wireless Support - Transmits public web addresses and local data using multiple wireless standards to ensure cross-hardware discovery.
- Object Discovery Protocols - Defines a standard for detecting and resolving web links using BLE, SSDP, and mDNS.
- Object-to-URL Linking - Broadcasts web addresses from smart objects to nearby devices to facilitate interaction without dedicated apps.
- Physical Object Scanning - Implements the ability to detect and read web links embedded in physical objects to trigger interactions.
- Proximity Service Discovery - Scans the immediate area for broadcasted web links and presents a ranked list for user selection.
- Beacon URL Resolution - Implements server-side parsing of beacon metadata to resolve URLs and reduce client-side processing load.
- Link Broadcasting - Broadcasts web links through low energy advertising packets to enable smart object discovery.
- Link Broadcasters - Provides a tool for provisioning and transmitting public web addresses from beacons to mobile devices.
- Multi-Protocol Peer Discovery - Broadcasts links across multiple wireless standards including Bluetooth, mDNS, and SSDP for cross-hardware discovery.
- Automatic Page Metadata Extraction - Extracts titles, descriptions, and icons from web pages to identify and describe the associated physical object.
- Smart Object Metadata - Stores and retrieves titles, descriptions, and icons to identify physical devices in the UI.
- Smart Object Metadata Repositories - Stores and organizes data structures for devices that broadcast web links to simplify client application development.
- Beacon Metadata Services - Provides a remote service to fetch descriptive information about discovered beacons for display in notifications.
- Beacon Monitoring - Fetches metadata from remote services to identify and display discovered smart objects.
- Object Presence Announcements - Sends web links from smart devices to nearby displays using wireless protocols to announce physical object presence.
- Local Network Discovery - Broadcasts web links over local networks using the Simple Service Discovery Protocol.
- mDNS Service Discovery - Registers web links as services over wireless networks using multicast DNS for discovery.
- UPnP Device Advertising - Publishes device metadata and web links using UPnP profiles for browser discoverability.
- Wireless P2P Data Serving - Broadcasts information directly from a device to users via direct wireless connections for offline data access.
- Server-Side Metadata Parsing - Parses beacon metadata on a remote server to reduce processing load and data usage on the client device.
- Broadcast Identifier Obfuscation - Protects user privacy by using rotating keys or encoded addresses to prevent unauthorized tracking of physical beacons.
- Broadcast Link Obfuscation - Protects the privacy of broadcasted web addresses using obfuscated links and rotating keys.
- Signal Strength Prioritization - Orders discovered physical objects by their wireless signal intensity to prioritize the most relevant nearby links.
- Proximity Alert Triggers - Triggers notifications when a mobile device enters the wireless range of a physical beacon.
- Object Visual Identification - Retrieves titles, descriptions, and favicons from web pages to visually identify physical objects.
- Proximity Notifications - Triggers mobile device alerts when a compatible smart object is detected within wireless range.
- Favicon Displays - Shows the website icon associated with a physical object as a visual cue before user interaction.
- Beacon Discovery and Management - Resources for the Physical Web interaction standard.
Star history
How this analysis was created: This summary and feature list were written by an AI model that read the project's README and public documentation pages. Each feature links to the documentation it came from; stars, license and language come straight from the GitHub API. The model does not read the source code, and the analysis is refreshed when the project is re-analysed. Learn more on our About page.
