Guest Post – NFC: You’re already using it!
Whether we know it or not Near Field Communication, (NFC) has been a part of modern technology for a while now. If you’ve ever swiped your loyalty reward card against a scanner, used touch payment with your credit card or put your smartphone up against someone else’s to transfer data you’ve been using NFC.
What is NFC?
NFC has its roots in radio-frequency communication (RFID), which was patented back in 1983. RFID used electromagnetic fields to identify and track object tags with stored information. Established in 2002 by Sony and Philips, NFC is a set of procedures that allow smart devices to communicate by bringing them just a few centimetres apart. This allows for contactless transactions, such as file transfers. The transmitter/receiver relationship doesn’t have to happen with powered devices. It’s possible for communication to happen between an unpowered chip, known as a tag and an active “device”; NFC tags contain information that can be read. You could theoretically have many smart objects around the city loaded with “infotags” much like they had in Oulu, Finland.
Current and Possible Uses for NFC
NFC has been used practically for years to send and receive payments, just as with MasterCard PayPass. However, in the city of Nice, France back in 2010, it’s being used to facilitate everyday life by providing inhabitants with the ability to cover a variety of services, such as getting information in museums or at bus or train stops. Companies, like Yale Lock have built special electronic locks that can lock and unlock doors with the swipe of a phone. There is currently testing involving the use of NFC technology for airport check-ins.
Possible uses for this type of technology in the fields of healthcare and marketing include using NFC tags. Imagine seeing something that interests you on a poster (for example a bus timetable) and then simply holding your smartphone up near the poster to get more information. Healthcare uses for the technology range from doctor and nurse check-ins with patients to providing patient data to medical professionals in case of emergencies. Being able to track and synchronize patient data could be a matter of life and death.
The advent of ubiquitous computing, where computing appears everywhere and in everything we do, is changing the way many live. Physical proximity is no longer necessary to communicate with each other or the objects of everyday life. People can achieve more control over their local environment in a global space by redefining geography.
Guest Post written by Jessi Dimmock – www.siig
