Dubai GITEX Future Stars!

From the 6th to the 10th, MENA's (Middle East and North Africa's) largest technology event, "GITEX", was held in Dubai, UAE.
We participated in the event from the 6th to the 9th as a member of the Japan Pavilion at "GITEX Future Stars".
With the COVID-19 pandemic forcing major events around the world to move online one after another, this was one of the rare global tech events that went ahead in person.

On this occasion, QR codes and XPAND Code were used together as an information-sharing tool for the entire Japan Pavilion.
Please take a look at the introduction video from the organisers.

Within the Japan Pavilion, a "hybrid exhibition" approach was attempted, in which physical booths were set up whilst also being connected online to Japan.
In our case, the Japan Pavilion team provided on-site explanations, whilst we handled any customers who wished to speak with us via Zoom from Tokyo.
This was a superb method that combined the best of both worlds: the serendipitous encounters of a physical exhibition and the efficiency and low cost of an online exhibition.
Even in a post-COVID society, I believe this will prove an effective means of expanding overseas marketing opportunities, particularly for startups and small businesses.

Now, let us introduce the Japan Pavilion through photographs.
At physical trade shows, a practical application is having visitors scan an XPAND Code from a distance to download materials.
However, the XPAND Codes in these photographs can also be scanned, meaning they can continue to serve as linked records even after the exhibition is over.
You can launch the XPAND Code reader using the QR code here, so please do try scanning the photographs.
※ For iPhones running iOS 13 or below, and some Android devices, the app will need to be downloaded

Here is an overview of the Japan Pavilion layout.

The XPAND Code on the reception counter could be read from 20 to 30 metres away at the venue, and the XPAND Code in this photograph can be scanned too.
You can download the Japan Pavilion leaflet — please give it a try.

Next up are the booths of the individual exhibiting companies.
Scanning the XPAND Code beneath each company name plate will take you to that company's website.

And finally, our own booth.
Scanning the XPAND Code will display a special page created for GITEX.

For this exhibition, we collaborated with the web AR service "LIQUID AR".
Select AR from the special page, and a giant figure like this appears.

The concept of calling up AR from an XPAND Code had been on our minds for some time, but it was our participation in the recent Digital Content EXPO that finally brought it to life, thanks to the generous cooperation of fellow exhibitor Liquid Design.
Going forward, we will also be developing proposals for AR content triggered by XPAND Code.

Here is the back of the booth. The black version is the first public unveiling of the "XPAND Code RTL Edition".

This is a version with the design mirrored to harmonise with Right-to-Left languages — Arabic, Persian, Urdu, Hebrew, and others that are written from right to left.
Automatic generation via the XPAND Code Generator is not yet supported, but we have begun handling requests on an individual basis.

We will now be moving ahead with discussions about concrete projects in the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region with those who visited our booth.
And if the opportunity arises, we are looking forward to participating again next year.