///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Part One: An RFID-driven welcome application
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

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.

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Part deux: 2 physical “swap contact details” touchscreen consoles
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

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

“This is a modified version of our interactive installation featured at FITC Amsterdam. The actual bluetooth presence service has been replaced by a scripted simulator which randomly adds and removes people from the installation. Enter your name in the popup field in the bottom and you will be playing an instrument too!”

via Barcinski and JeanJean

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!

We’ve placed a Mac Mini inside the bathroom with a Roomware server installed. This tracks all Bluetooth devices that walk into and out of this space. A neat application created in Flash using Papervision3D then ties a music sample to every Bluetooth device. Every time somebody with a mobile phone walks into the bathroom a certain instrument starts playing, like a drum, a harp or a saxophone. There are around 20 unique pieces of music that if played together are complimentary. This way a symphony of sounds is created every time people walk into and out of the bathroom. But visuals also play a large part in this. Each instrument is displayed as a primitive shape inside a 3D grid, which also moves in accordance to the sample it’s playing. A skybox of the actual physical location links the virtual and real together. There’s even a small legend that shows who is playing which instrument and what the Bluetooth name of his or hers device is. The result is stunning if we say so ourselves:

It’s a bit of a hassle to describe this application in word, so go and experience this great app for yourself.If you have time to swing by Keizersgracht 324 in Amsterdam this monday or tuesday, please take a leak!

Update: here’s a video walkthrough as well.

Who : Coders, geeks, mobile developers, interface developers

When: Saturday, 2nd February, 2008, 10 am

Where: Offices of Ex Machina, Sarphatistraat 78, Amsterdam

link to googlemaps. Sign up if you want to join us at Upcoming

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…

Sponsor: Ex-Machina

in 60 seconds…

 Gisteren tijdens een bijeenkomst over ontwikkelingen in de mobiele industrie in Amsterdam presenteerde Robert Gaal zijn Roomware Project aan de aanwezigen. “We zoeken ontwikkelaars om mee samen te werken aan mobiele applicaties”, en andere toepassingen.  

Last night arrived pretty suddenly! We had little under a week to have all things ready for a meeting of tech platforms. Hyves (the largest social network in the netherlands) gave us access to their API. We used it to present photostreams of their users detected within the radius of our bluetooth scanners. It’s a kind of location-based service, where, with your consent, your presence triggers your lifestream via photos to be remixed with those of others in proximity to you.

The reaction of the audience was noticably more positive than previous daytime or nighttime outtings. This time the audience was engaged and they were hungry for…well…….themselves! I wander what the VJs thought as the random selection of photos was hilarious.

Kudos definately go to roomware team members for pulling this off. Also great to test Tom’s completely rewritten code.

Thanks for the photo Boris. Here’s also a screenshot:

If everything works out we’ll be able to present a new version of the Roomware server at the coming new years party. Keep watching this space for progress reports. We’ll have other great things to report soon but those are still under wraps for now…