The Eurisko Dialogue Machine
GfK Eurisko is shortly to launch the Dialogue Machine Project, due to become fully operational on January 1st 2009. Its objective: to conduct high-quality surveys with excellent representativeness, at speed and with competitive prices. The project – on which development work will be completed shortly – provides for construction of a panel comprised of 4,000 households (about 10,000 individuals), perfectly representative of the Italian population. The panel has already been profiled with a questionnaire derived from Sinottica which also envisages links with GfK Eurisko Lifestyles and the Big Map.Panel members are provided with an electronic device known as the Dialogue Machine. It consists essentially of a handheld touchscreen system plus scanner, microphone, speakers, camera with a macro lens, camera with a wide-angle lens and GPRS transmission system. Using this device it will be possible to present panel members with multimedia stimuli and send them questionnaires they can respond to simply touching the screen. The data will be received by GfK Eurisko in real time via GPRS, i.e. with no need to connect to the internet or used fixed telephony. Panel members can also scan barcodes of products they buy and of newspapers/magazines they read, and take photos of utilities bills. The Dialogue Machine is also a residential meter. It incorporates Eurisko Media Monitor sound-matching technology for passive recording of domestic radio and TV audiences. It can also be fitted with a GPS card that turns it into a satellite position finder. With the Dialogue Machine GfK Eurisko intends to bypass many of the problems encountered using traditional methodologies.
- GPRS covers 99% of the population and therefore allows excellent representativeness compared with CATI (landlines now reach only 70%) or CAWI (with penetration under 30%)
- direct participation of respondents makes for more competitive costs
- the Dialogue Machines are constantly connected and online, allowing very fast delivery of output
- the powerful scanner provides for objective recording of all products with linear or data matrix barcodes
- LEDs signal the arrival of a new questionnaire, and the name of the family member invited to respond is indicated on a display
- there are no digital divide problems: the Dialogue Machine - devised, designed and produced by GfK Eurisko researchers in partnership with a prestigious Milan-based electronics engineering firm – is very easy to use
- multimedia stimuli may also be presented with excellent audio/video definition, which means the system can be used for practically any type of panel-based research
With the Dialogue Machine Project, market research now enters the new information technology era.
FOR MORE INFORMATION contact:
Remo Lucchi, Claudio Peretti (Research Directors)
Oreste Sala, Matteo Lucchi (Account Directors, Milan)
Silvia Castagna (Account Director, Rome)
