GITEX Future Stars in Dubai!

GITEX, the largest tech event in MENA (Middle East and North Africa), was held in Dubai, UAE from the 6th to the 10th.
As a member of the “GITEX Future Stars” Japan Pavilion, we exhibited at the event from the 6th to the 9th.
This was one of the rare global tech events still held at a physical venue, at a time when major events worldwide were moving online due to COVID-19.

At this year’s Japan Pavilion, both QR Codes and XPAND Codes were used together as linking tools throughout the entire pavilion.
Please have a look at the video introduction of the Japan Pavilion by the organisers.

At the Japan Pavilion, a “hybrid exhibit” format was trialled, combining a physical booth with an online connection back to Japan.
The Japan Pavilion team handled on-site explanations, while we provided Zoom support from Tokyo whenever visitors requested it.
This proved to be an excellent way to combine the best of both worlds: the serendipitous encounters of a physical exhibition with the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of an online one.
We believe this hybrid approach will continue to be an effective way to expand overseas marketing opportunities in the post-COVID era, particularly for start-ups and smaller companies.

Here are some photos from the Japan Pavilion.
At a physical exhibition, XPAND Code is particularly effective for reading and downloading documents from a distance.
The XPAND Code in these photos can also be scanned, so the link will remain accessible even after the exhibition has ended.
You can use the QR code shown to launch the XPAND Code Reader — do give it a try.
*For iPhones running iOS 13 or below and some Android devices, app installation is required.

The overall layout of the Japan Pavilion is shown below.

The XPAND Code on the reception counter could be scanned from 20 to 30 metres away on site, and the code in this photo can also be scanned.
You can download the Japan Pavilion leaflet, so do give it a try.

Next are the individual exhibitor booths.
Scanning the XPAND Code beneath each company nameplate will take you directly to that company’s website.

And here is our own booth.
Scanning the XPAND Code will bring up a special GITEX page.

For this exhibition, we collaborated with the web AR service “LIQUID AR“.
When you select AR from the special page, this giant creature appears.

We have long had the idea of combining XPAND Code with AR, and we have finally realised it in collaboration with Liquid Design, who were also exhibiting at the recent Digital Content Expo.
Going forward, we will continue to develop and propose AR content using XPAND Code as the entry point.

The back of the booth is shown below.
The black version is the XPAND Code RTL edition, being unveiled here for the first time.

This is a version with the design reversed to harmonize with languages written from right to left, such as Arabic, Persian, Urdu, and Hebrew.
It is not yet supported for automatic generation by the XPAND Code Generator, but we are starting to provide it individually as needed.

We will be discussing specific projects in the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region with visitors to our booth.
We very much hope to participate in GITEX again next year!