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Part One: An RFID-driven welcome application
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We installed 1 RFID Alien reader, at the entrance, on a walk-through arch. The arch reader’s signal was boosted by 4 antennas which are the white blocks.

We distributed simple conference name tag holders fitted with a thin passive RFID tag. These were connected to guests contact details – name, company, email address, LinkedIn. Beyond the arch we projected each name and company related to name card/tag detected. It would pick you up from about 3 meters from the screen. We calibrated it to pop your name a little before reaching the arch.

We also projected the same inside the exhibition space (as another projector was available), while on side monitors we showed a variation of the welcome screen with “person x, company x, has just entered this space”. These were turned off early due to mix-ups as there was a lot going on.

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Part deux: 2 physical “swap contact details” touchscreen consoles
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We placed the other two readers inside vertical touch screen units.

Your badge triggers your name to appear on the screen in a circle. The signal reached 2 meters. People in front of the unit blocked this reach signal working as a perfect damper to return only those in front of the screen to show up. Test, test. This is not really the best sequence series. Video would be great showing people interacting (coming soon).

As all participants had already given us their contact details before entering, we could easily hook people together. See the steps below. Pressing the central button sent emails to respective swappers. It worked! And of course there are a million add-ons that might be possible now, but heck this is just a prototype.

This project helped kick-start development of some new goodies for the Roomware Server. Due to the miserable software support we received from the RFID hardware suppliers, we were forced to write drivers for the RFID reader to communicate with the Roomware Server. So now the Alien reader is supported. What is the state of middleware for RFID? Anything else open source with lots of support for different readers? I assume that as we can read an Alien RFID reader that we are now supporting all Gen 2 UHF readers as that’s an RFID standard.

So this concludes this small case study on a social use of RFID in an exhibition/conference environment.

Oh and they went crazy with segways and smoke machines plus all those LEDs.

And a bit of a tour of the location via dutchcowboys, a dutch marketing and tech blog.

Thanks go to Tom for saving the day (once again!), as 4 people in the team were seriously ill during the crunch period(me included!), so not enough time to test and integrate. Also a big shout out to our collaborators and new special “Internet of Things” operations hit team, Tim and Maarten. All ran smoothly from about 6.30pm onwards. The guests responded very positively!!

My only dark moment was reflecting on the possible extinction of the business card and what that might mean for graphic design on small pieces of card. I was also slightly surprised by how some people used the application. I noticed people in their haste to show it off, clicking on 3 or 4 people they had just met and not really spoken to, pressing the connect button before receiving consent. It was game-like, youthful enthusiasm on show. Treating it as a game when you just meet people was probably due to the nature of the event, which was to show of cool technology. Some people might see this as “connection-lite”, or a new form of spam in which you see your spammer. Shy people will get their email address sent to a stranger who they did not really want to be associated with. Let’s implement that on/off button for RFID tags for people soon.

Team:
Project Management + RFID : Tim and Maarten of Innoviting
Registration web application: Rob van der Burgt – Asva
Roomware Server, database: Tom Burger of Mimic Media, Roomware Project
UI development: Mark Barcinski and Adrien JeanJean of BarcinskiJeanJean
Concept development and creative direction: James Burke of Alchemyst and Roomware Project

“Reverse Shadow Theatre is an installation created with the Animata real-time animation editor.

Wayang Kulit is the indonesian shadow puppet theatre, in which finely carved and painted leather puppets move behind a screen making the audiance see their shadows only. In our installation the situation is reversed. The role of the elaborate puppets is emphasized, while the visitor is a mere shadow trying to control the puppets by her movements.”

via WMMNA

It’s time for another devHuis. If you are interested in exploring how to reach out of the screen and how to build a cool wireless application then your’re in the right place. We are again focusing on coding for this session. So this is an open call to all developers or aspiring learning developers. We’ll cover the basics of how to build an application based on the Roomware Project framework, and then break out into groups, get coding and then present our freshly minted work at the end of the afternoon. Should be a lot of fun!

We’re lucky to have the wonderful folks at Nulaz sponsoring this event along with Alchemyst. They have a spanking old-school mansion in Amsterdam Zuid, with it’s own music jam-out room for if you go crazy and need to bash out your frustrations on the drums.

Who : Coders, geeks, mobile developers, interface developers

When: Saturday, 22nd March, 2008, 10 am

Where: Offices of Nulaz, Prins Hendriklaan 18, Amsterdam

Timetable (may be changed)
10:00 – Doors open
10:30 – Introduction to roomware
10:45 – Introduction to roomware server
11:15 – Introduction round & everybody say what he or she will be building today
13:00 – Lunch
18:00 – Presentation of apps/projects
19:30 – Dinner
21:00 – Perhaps more hacking for those who wish to stay

We have space for 25 people. Sign-up is on Upcoming, so follow this link to be included. Link to googlemaps. See you there!

So you want to design an application or service that runs inside a physical space. It may involve defining environmental controls like connecting a remote controller to raise the volume of a stereo or music stream. Then if you got people walkin around you need to negotiate/declare the interactions between them. If they have devices strapped to their bodies how will these talk to each other? What will they control?

Came across a page on architectradure which led to a page on home automation. Here are 2 terms you can borrow from the interior design universe.

Words: Scene control and Zone control . Used to somewhat good effect below..

“At Leviton, we believe that enabling new technologies to customize and schedule common lifestyle activities performed everyday is beneficial in any home. Simply stated, quality home automation makes life easier. Controlling lights with single-button scene control and zone control add new dimensions to a lighting system—a dimension you can’t achieve with a solo dimmer on the wall. In fact, home lighting automation is one of the most powerful methods Interior Designers use to change moods in a room.

Every room in the home benefits from home control and home automation. Here’s just a few examples of popular applications:

* Kitchen and Dining Room: Create scenes for the different tasks such as dining, cooking and cleaning.
* Home Theater and Media Rooms: Create a dramatic “dim the lights before the show” integrated with your home theater system.
* Master Bedroom: Control zones of lights from the bedside to turn ON and OFF lights outside, downstairs or throughout the entire home.
* Landscape and Garden: Schedule when the garden path lights turn ON and OFF, or combine all the outdoor lights to activate at once for security.
* Staircase and Hallways: Ensure safety by turning on lights at appropriate lighting levels throughout the day and night.
* Living Room: Add elegance and intimacy. Lighting is one of the most powerful methods Interior Designers use to change moods in a room.
* Family Room and Great Rooms: Select a lighting scene for one person to read a good book, or the entire family to celebrate a birthday party.”