WOW KOREA! (PART-XIV)

Image Source: http://rhinopress.org/

I can't believe that fourteen weeks have gone by so quickly as the curtains come down for Phase-I of the Wow Korea Supporter 2015. 

In the fourteenth and concluding post of this series, I shall share with you yet another amazing aspect of South Korea when I discovered that they were not just brilliant innovators of the digital age but even the everyday people are not far behind when it comes to harnessing the tools and techniques of the internet era. In fact they live,eat and breathe in the air of technology. They could also be called the movers and shakers of the IT (Information Technology) age!

Ranked as the world's "leading digital city" and a "tech capital of the world,here are some fascinating figure on how tech savvy this nation is! South Korea has a wired culture with a whopping 82.7% high internet penetration where 78.5% of the entire population uses smartphone (as of 2013) and between the age group of 18-24, the smartphone outreach is a record high of 97.7%!!

Thus I am not surprised at what I am about to share with you!

Image Source: http://www.amusingplanet.com

Even as the population is immersed chatting away with the emoticon-ridden communication apps such as Naver Line and Kakao Talk,South Koreans also use their credit cards for every transaction (the country holds the record of the highest global credit card penetration) and their smartphones smartly too be it for payment at shops,to watch television (in real-time and not on YouTube!) on the subway and "scan QR codes" as well!! 

Now many of you might be wondering on what's the big deal in scanning QR codes? We all do it! But have you heard that scanning QR codes could help you do your shopping? Confused? Let me explain! 

Image Source: http://www.amusingplanet.com

Move over from shopping at malls or standing in long queues at supermarkets or hyper-stores. Welcome to the world's first virtual grocery story in South Korea located at Seolleung Station on Seoul Subway Line 2 that is here to revolutionize shopping!

The Homeplus virtual store which offers over 500 items like food, clothing, electronics, toiletries, office supplies etc. is also the second largest discount chain of South Korea! In this store,there are life-size pictures of miscellaneous products such as milk,bag of rice, apples, school backpacks etc. that are plastered on the walls and platform screen doors of the "store" where each of the items are bar coded.

Image Source: http://www.amusingplanet.com

A buyer/ shopper can simply download the Homeplus shopping app on their smartphones and make purchases by scanning the QR codes that accompanies each product.

It's as simple as scanning QR codes of products and placing your order while going to work in the morning and having them delivered at your doorsteps when you return home in the evening! You don't have to be anywhere near the store to order products. For example, if a shopper wishes to order replacements for a bottle of water, he/she doesn't have to stop by the subway station for one. All they have to do is scan the bar code on the bottle they have purchased using the Homeplus app and ta-da, the product is delivered to your desired destination!

It is indeed a futuristic concept that is here to change our approach and perspective on shopping for one's daily needs and particularly useful to those who are time-crunched!

In 2015,Hyundai even plans on rolling out a car that starts with your smartphone! Such inventions happen only in Korea!

                                                       **********************

Image Source: http://www.nydailynews.com/

Forthcoming Attraction - With South Korea trying to give an impetus to their tourism sector,they have conceptualized the world's first 'invisible' tower called Tower Infinity,a 1,476-foot structure which will be built outside of Seoul near Incheon International Airport that would make it the sixth tallest structure in the world! 

This structure would be sheathed in glass with a skin of LED screens where images will be scaled, rotated and merged using digital processing to generate a panoramic image that would blend into the scenery and thus create an illusion of invisibility! 

In fact, the designers at GDS Architects, the brainchild of this all-new virtual wonder of the world even propose to place cameras on six different sides of the tower which would capture real-time imagery of the surrounding area that would be streamed onto the 1,500 LED screens placed along the outside of the structure.Such creativity!The designers have also ensured that this structure would be fitted with flashing warning lights that would be visible to airplane pilots at all time.

Image Source: cnn.com

Soon,the wonders of CGI,SFX and graphics that you watched in films and marveled in wonder would permeate into reality when the sky-scraper that is laden with entertainment inside-out would be realized.No offices would be housed in this tower. Yes,you read that right! In fact,this tower is designated to be an entertainment center with roller-coaster,water park, 4-D movie theater, restaurants and a VIP lounge that are proposed as a part of this building plan.This tower will also have the third highest observation deck in the world! 

So, you see there's much to look out for in the days to come in Korea! Korea as a nation is truly inspiring the world with their brilliant concepts, creativity and innovation! And I for once would love to be the first to experience the illusion of this invisible tower!
                                                        **********************
So, here's concluding the fourteenth post of the Phase-I of the Wow Korea series. 

Along the way,I must admit that e-exploring and e-touring Korea has enlightened me on the many dimensions of this multi-faceted, beautiful and talented country that the world knows as South Korea - truly the heart and S(e)oul of the world!

For those of you who have missed out on some of my earlier posts in this series,click here to read: 
Wow Korea! Part-I, 
Wow Korea! Part-II, 
Wow Korea! Part-III, 
Wow Korea! Part-IV, 
Wow Korea! Part-V, 
Wow Korea Part-VI, 
Wow Korea! Part-VII,
Wow Korea! Part-VIII,
Wow Korea! Part-IX, 
Wow Korea Part-X, 
Wow Korea Part-XI 
Wow Korea Part-XII
Wow Korea Part-XIII

Regards,

Sonaal

Follow my blog with Bloglovin