RFID Based Spatial Address Book

rfid

The march of reader hacks continues and I couldn’t be happier. [Timo] has been experimenting with a prototype Nokia 3220 Near Field Communication phone. The phone features an RFID reader/writer (and an odd logo that seems to combine a Dreamcast with RSS). The phone’s Service Discovery application reads RFID tags that it encounters. The read data can trigger a variety of actions: dial a number, send a pre-defined SMS, or load a URL. Timo placed an array of RFID tags under the surface of his desk. He then recorded different actions to each tag and placed a corresponding Post-It note liable on the desk surface above each tag. So, by resting the phone on “call Jack” the phone would load the number. When he walks into the office he can set the phone down on “I’m in the office” and a text message will be sent. He’s got some interesting thoughts on this system. It made him very aware of where he had to set the phone when he didn’t want it to do anything. Timo also wonders how your acquaintances would feel if they found themselves ranked across your desktop.

12 thoughts on “RFID Based Spatial Address Book

  1. This is a really interesting project, one which can be expanded in many ways. A couple of things to note however are:
    1) What if you accidently placed the phone over a tag? (eg, you dropped the phone)
    2) What if somebody sneakily re-arranged the post-it notes, you could instruct the phone to perform one action ‘SMS to Wife’, and it would perform another ‘SMS to Secretary’, could be dangerous!

  2. @ kin cheng:

    Yes, retailers like wal-mart, shippers like FedEx, public transportation like MARTA (In Atlanta) use rfid, but this phone can only read them. Editing an rfid tag is a considerably more complex task.

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