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Packages are expected to carry ever more information in a limited space. One solution to this problem is automatic identification, i.e. adding elements to the package that can be linked to electronic information systems. The aim of this study was to find the best way to produce additional business for the value chain of packages via existing technologies for automatic identification. Automatic identification can give benefits in the form of cost savings, new business opportunities, additional value to existing business and increased customer loyalty to all players in the value chain. Available technologies are 2D bar codes, digital watermarks, image recognition, fibre matrix, radiofrequency identification tags and magnetic codes. Pilot tests and user studies showed that additional services offered via automatic identification should include detailed product data, recipes, nutrient needs and user instructions and should match user demand. Obstacles to use are costs, time consumption and complexity. In Japan, mobile barcodes are part of everyday life: well known to consumers and used on a flat‐rate basis. From the beginning, the introduction was based on consumer needs, not on early profit. Today, it operates on a win–win principle, with benefits for all the players in the value chain, and several traditional printers have created completely new service concepts for their customers.

Automatic identification can give benefits in the form of cost savings, new business opportunities, additional value to existing business and increased customer loyalty to all players in the value chain. Available technologies are 2D bar codes, digital watermarks, image recognition, fibre matrix, RFID tags and magnetic codes. Pilot tests and user studies showed that additional services offered via automatic identification should include detailed product data, recipes, nutrient needs, user instructions and match user demand. Obstacles to use are costs, time consumption and complexity

Packages are expected to carry ever more information in a limited space. One solution is hybrid media, i.e., printing intelligent elements on packages. The aim of this study was to find the best way to produce additional business for the package value chain using existing technologies for hybrid media. The approach included a technology survey of 2D applications, interviews with industrial experts from the package value chain, two industrial case pilots with user studies and a study tour of forerunner companies in Japan. Hybrid media can offer benefits in the form of cost savings, new business opportunities, added value to existing business and increased customer loyalty to all players in the value chain. The available hybrid media technologies are 2D bar codes, digital watermarks, imge recognition, fibre matrix, RFID tags and magnetic codes. The pilot tests and user studies showed that additional hybrid media services should include detailed product data, recipes, nutrient requirements and user instructions, and match user demand. Obstacles to their use are cost and complexity, and the fact that they are time-consuming. In Japan, mobile barcodes are part of everyday life. They are well known to consumers and are used on a flat-rate basis. When they were introduced, they were based on consumers' needs, not on early profit. Today, it is a win-win situation with benefits for all the players in the value chain, and many traditional printers have created completely new service concepts for their customers.

The aim of this project was to combine printed and digital learning material in order to enrich and enhance the learning experience, and introduce the created concept to the end-users in primary schools. We proposed a hybrid book concept in which traditional school book was combined with a mobile phone. The chosen subject was English as a foreign language (EFL). User-centric approach and qualitative methods were used in the design process. The main user groups were teachers, pupils and parents. In addition, WSOYpro bookmakers gave their professional insight into the process. This approach made it possible to take into account the user preferences as well as pedagogical and didactical issues. The inclusion of the teacher in the design process from the very beginning proved to be valuable: The teacher was able to interweave the use of hybrid book into her current teaching practises, culture and curriculum; on the other hand she provided the research group with valuable information, which helped the design of the mobile phone tasks. Our experiences from the project indicate that the mobile hybrid book is a suitable learning material for primary education. The motivation of teachers and pupils was high, and the attitudes of parents supported the use of hybrid book. The society around us is becoming increasingly digitalized and the schools should follow the change taking place in the society. The printed book is probably not enough anymore, but is not yet disappearing from the schools. The idea of combining the two worlds, printed and digital, was well received.

The packages are expected to carry ever more information in a limited space. One solution is hybrid media, i.e. printing intelligent elements on the packages. The aim of this study was to find the best way to produce additional business to the value chain of packages via already existing technologies for hybrid media. The approach included a technology survey about 2D applications, interviews with industrial experts from the package value chain, two industrial case pilots with user studies and a study tour to forerunner companies in Japan. Hybrid media can give benefits in form of cost savings, new business opportunities, additional value to already existing business and increased customer loyalty to all players in the value chain. Available hybrid media technologies are 2D bar codes, digital watermarks, image recognition, fibre matrix, RFID tags and magnetic codes. Pilot tests and user studies showed that additional hybrid media service should include detailed product data, recipes, nutrient need, user instructions and matching of user demand. Obstacles for use are costs, time consuming and complexity. In Japan mobile barcodes are part of everyday life, well known to consumers and used on flat rate basis. The introduction was from the beginning based on consumers’ needs, not on early profit. Today it operates on a winwin principle with benefits for all the players in the value chain and several traditional printers have created completely new service concepts for their customers.

Educational games have seen grown interest in recent years. At the same time, there has been interest in the research of hybrid media. Hybrid media is a combination of print and electronic media. In this paper we present a first study on the design of educational language games for hybrid media platform. Based on scenario interviews and supportive research, we present a design framework which can be used to aid the design of educational language games. For our study, we interviewed six elementary school teachers and 16 6th grade students aging from 11 to 12 years. We also interviewed four study book authors and examined educational language games.

The aim of the study was to develop a new hybrid media product for learning environments and to evaluate its suitability and potential for studying English as a foreign language in elementary school. The prototype made for the study consisted of an English book linked to a mobile phone through 2D codes. By using the code reader the user was able to carry out listening tasks and interactive grammar exercises which opened up in the mobile phone's web browser. The hybrid book concept was evaluated by ten elementary school teachers. According to the user tests with the teachers the hybrid book would motivate pupils and allow them to study regardless of time and place. The interviewed teachers had a very positive attitude to using a mobile phone side-by-side with the text book in order to carry out tasks not possible with the text book alone (e.g. listening tasks). Most of the teachers were willing to use a hybrid book for teaching if it was available. All the interviewed teachers thought that pupils would be interested in using a hybrid book, and hence it will be interesting to observe how the pupils themselves evaluate the use of the hybrid book in the next phase of the study.