Near Field Communication (NFC) for SmartPhones at the Museum of London, plus related video and NFC links

I recently came across the following video demonstrating the use of NFC (Near Field Communication) at the Museum of London.  I wouldn't be surprised if this technology takes root in a variety of applications in the very near future!


Museum of London's use of Near Field Technology with Nokia

London History Museum Adopts Technology of Future
Claire Swedberg, RFID Journal, 8/16/11
"Museum of London has installed NFC RFID tags in its two location, to provide the growing number of NFC-enabled phone users with additional exhibit information, access to social Web sites and vouchers."
Byte at the museum
Trevor, Conversations by Nokia, 9/26/11


RELATED 
Apple, Microsoft Reported to Include NFC in 2012 Smartphones
Christina Bonnington, Wired Gadget Lab, 11/22/11

Gamification and NFC top 2012 Digital Trends
Wenlei Ma, AdNews12/12/11
Microsoft: NFC already supported in Windows Phone
Gareth Beavis, TechRadar.com, 12/9/11

Near Field Communication
Android Developers
Intel joins NFC Forum board
Telcompaper, 12/8/11

Join the NFC (Near Field Communication) Revolution Today
NFC Data Inc, Sacramento Bee, 11/30/11
"Pledge support. Set a new mobile wallet standard for security, convenience, and affordability! Think outside the phone!"

NFC Near Field Communication Tutorial
Radio-Electronics.com
"A summary overview or tutorial of Near Field Communications, detailing what is NFC and its technology"
Vending Machines Now Take Google Wallet Payments

-Wall Street Journal, MarketWatch

Building Interfaces for the New Decade: Conference at the Tech Museum, San Jose, California

Here is information about a day-long conference that I'm sure will be well worth attending:

November 15, 2011 (Tuesday)

Building Interfaces for the New Decade Conference

The Tech Museum

San Jose, California

If you can't make it to San Jose, the conference can be attended "virtually".  You can register for the conference via the EventBright website.


Here is the list of speakers and presentations for the conference:


Tamara Schwarz, Senior Manager of Experience Design, Chabot Space & Science Center
"RFID-enabled Interactive Exhibits, or... What's a warehouse inventory management technology doing in an interactive science center?"
Christopher Stapleton, Creative Venture Catalyst, Simiosys
"The Phydgital InterSpace -The Next Generation of Museum User Experience and Workshop: Experiential Makeover for Learning"
Jim Spadaccini, Director, Ideum; Principal Investigator, Open Exhibits
"Open Exhibits - Community Software for Multi-touch and Motion Recognition"
Rick Ernst, Lead Designer, Ogmento
"How to get People off the Couch and Interact with the World with Augmented Reality Games"
Bob Ketner, Curator, The Tech Test Zone
"The Tech Virtual and The Tech Test Zone Open Platforms"
John MacDuffie Woodburn, Co-Developer, Pixel, and Graduate Student, University of the Arts, PA, & Matt Miller, Co-Developer, Pixel
"Pixel - Using Eye Tracking to Engage and Educate Your Audience"
Ross Smith, Ph.D, Deputy Director, Wearable Computer Laboratory, University of South Australia
"Bringing Fingertip Sculpting Techniques to the Digital Artist"

Below is an excerpt from the conference website:
"Join us on Tuesday, November 15, 2011 for a gathering of the most innovative developers of new interactive technologies at The Tech Museum's Test Zone 2011...Connect with entrepreneurs, developers, and researchers working on cutting-edge interfaces such as:
Augmented Reality
Context Aware 
Deformable Surfaces
Eye Tracking
Feedback
Gestural Interfaces
Gigapixel Images
Motion Sensing
Multi-touch
Natural User Interfaces
RFID
Smart Museum Systems
Tablet Computers
Ubiquitous Media 


Find out how museums and other public-space designers can use these technologies to enhance visitor learning and experience. Experience the interactives firsthand at the opening of The Tech Test Zone Gallery, a new gallery dedicated to temporary exhibitions of prototypes from corporate, academic, and nonprofit partners."

RELATED

About the Tech Museum:

"The Tech Museum is a hands-on technology and science museum for people of all ages and backgrounds. The museum-located in the Capital of Silicon Valley -is a non-profit learning resource established to engage people in exploring and experiencing technologies affecting their lives. Through programs such as The Tech Challenge presented by Cisco, our annual team design competition for youth, and internationally renowned programs such as The Tech Awards presented by Applied Materials, Inc., The Tech Museum celebrates the present and encourages the development of innovative ideas for a more promising future." -Tech Museum YouTube Channel

Hack the Future Day at the Tech Museum

Emerging Interactive Multimedia, New Models of HCI for Museum Exhibits (Course offered by Ideum's Jim Spadaccini, plus info about the MT55 multi-touch table)

Jim Spadaccini, the director and founder of Ideum, will be teaching a course on exhibit development through the University of Victoria, "Emerging Exhibits: Exploring New Models of Human Computer Interaction (HCI).  The excerpt from the course description provides a glimpse of how emerging technologies are beginning to change the museum experience:


"Computer-based interactive exhibits are undergoing a major transformation. The lone, single-user kiosk is now being replaced by multitouch tables and walls, motion-capture spaces, networked installations, and RFID-based exhibits. Advances in augmented reality, voice recognition, eye tracking, and other technologies promise even more radical change for exhibits in the near future."


I've been following Jim's journey with Ideum, a multimedia design firm that collaborates with museums and related non-profits, for many years, and I am impressed with the work of this company.  In addition to his work at Ideum,  Jim serves as the Principal Investigator of a National-Science Foundation sponsored open-source exhibit software project, Open Exhibits, which provides a free software development kit that supports the creation of multi-touch and multi-user software applications for museums and educational settings.


I'm happy to put in a plug for Ideum's latest product, the MT55 Platform Multi-Touch Table. It incorporates a range of features that I'm sure will meet the needs of museum visitors.  In my opinion, this table would be a fantastic resource for all types of libraries, including those in K-12 settings.

The MT55 Platform Multi-touch Table, from Ideum

The MT55 Platform Multitouch Table from Ideum on Vimeo.  (Note: This video features music by Moby, the track "Sevastopol" on his current album, Destroyed. The music was used with the artists' permission. Learn more at: moby.com") - Ideum

"The thinnest, largest, most powerful multitouch table available.The MT55 Platform multitouch table houses a powerful computer and a 55-inch interactive LCD display that responds to 32 touch-points, inside a rugged aluminum body."

"The bright 55″ 1920×1080 HD display has a 5,000,000:1 contrast ratio. A wide 178-degree viewing angle accommodates multiple users around the table. The optical multitouch system supports 32 simultaneous touch points for collaborative interaction. The system is multitouch-enabled from start-up, and runs Windows 7 64-bit professional edition."


"The integrated computer is packed with power. It contains an Intel® Hyper-Threaded DualCore i5® which runs at 2.66 GHz, 8GB of RAM, and a 128 GB solid-state drive (upgradeable to an i7®)."


"The table comes complete with WIFI, Bluetooth, and Ethernet connectivity. It also has multiple HDMI outputs that allow you to easily mirror the table's display, extend the desktop, or connect to and display from another computer or HDMI device."

"Convenient, but secure ports: CAT5, HDMI, and USB 2.0 are available on both the side on bottom the table."

"The MT55 Platform includes blue LED under-lights to illuminate the area beneath the interactive surface (custom LED colors are available). Every MT table includes a sophisticated internal cooling cell to maintain operating conditions that exceed the optimum environmental specifications for the internal components."

"The interactive surface of the MT55 Platform protected by a sheet of hardened, crystal clear, low-iron 5mm tempered glass surface...As an option, we offer Sevasa HapticGlas®, produced exclusively for Ideum. Micro-etched HapticGlas® provides tactile feedback, reduces fingerprints, increases scratch resistance, and directs user focus." -Ideum
 
RELATED
High-res photos of the MT55 Platform

GestureWorks Software
Open Exhibits
Ideum
Open Exhibits Tuio Kinect

NEWSEUM, a highly interactive museum in D.C. with an online component -I want to visit!

What is a newseum?

"The Newseum -- a 250,000-square-foot museum of news -- offers visitors an experience that blends five centuries of news history with up-to-the-second technology and hands-on exhibits.  Within its seven levels of galleries and theaters, the Newseum offers a unique environment that takes museum-goers behind the scens to experience how and why news is made."

"The Newseum is one of the most technologically advanced museums in the world. The Newseum ordered 100 miles of fiber-optic cable to link up-to-the-second technologies that include electronic signage and interactive kiosks, two broadcast studios, 15 theaters and a 40-by-22-foot high-resolution media screen."


Below are some examples of what visitors can experience at the Newseum, located in Washington, D.C.:


Bloomberg Internet, TV and Radio Gallery

-Newseum
Time Warner World News Gallery

-Newseum


The New York Times --Ochs-Sulzberger Family Great Hall of News 
Surrounded by the flow of information

-Newseum
"Around, above and below, visitors to the Great Hall of News are surrounded by a continuous flow of news. Instant, breaking, historic news that is uncensored, diverse and free."


NBC News Interactive Newsroom

Photo by Maria Bryk/Newseum

"In this 7,000-square-foot interactive gallery, visitors can select any of 48 interactive kiosks or experiences where they can immerse themselves in the many roles -photojournalist, editor, reporter, anchor — required to bring the news to the public. The gallery features eight “Be a TV Reporter” stations that allow visitors to choose from a variety of video backdrops, take their place in front of the screen, read their report from a TelePrompter and see themselves in action." -Newseum










NEWSEUM exhibits have an on-line component.  Here are a few:

Time-Warner World News Gallery Press Freedom Interactive Map

Online Virtual Tour of the Newseum

Newseum Online News Trivia Game

Newseum Microsite (Great for use on an interactive whiteboard to introduce students to the museum.)

Video:  How to Be a TV Reporter

Bloomberg Internet, TV and Radio Online Exhibit

Pulitzer Prize Photograph Gallery

MT-50 Multi-touch Table: Ideum + NUITech = Interactive Delight

Here are a couple of kids on Ideum's MT-50 multi-touch, multi-user table. You can see the delight!

The picture was taken from the videoclip below:



According to information from the video, the MT-50 screen provides a higher resolution than Microsoft's Surface. It comes with bundled with GestureWorks, a software development kit that works with Adobe's CS4, and NUITech's multi-software product, Snowflake Suite.

The MT 50 is designed for use in interactive museum exhibits, but in my opinion, holds great potential for use in public libraries and K-12 media centers (libraries), and even in classroom settings.

RELATED

Ideum's Press Release (pdf)
Ideum's MT-50 Table Specs (pdf)
Multi-touch Snowflake Suite trial, downloadable from the NUITech website