Reader for Hybrid World Lab

A collection of projects, theory and criticism on Hybrid World developments and RFID

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Blinks by Sascha Pohflepp -

Locative-GPS

GeoTracing:

is a software platform for creating multimedial geo-applications.

Bliin.com:

Bliin lets you share your location and geo-tagged photos from your handset in real-time.

CatchBob!:

An experimental platform in the form of a mobile game for running psychological experiments. It is designed to elicit collaborative behavior of people working together on a mobile activity.

7.5 floor

A blog by Fabien Girardin used for his Ph.D. thesis on collaboration in the context of mobile and ubiquitous environments. A vast collection of material and insights on locative media, pervasive computing and more.

Mashups

Mashups are hybrids between various webapplication. A mashups is a website or application that combines content from more than one source into an integrated experience.

Buttons:

takes on the notion of the camera as a networked object.

STAMPS:

A system to facilitate Collaborative Annotations of a Map in a mobile setting. IThis can be seen as a form of `Spatialised' communication, which means that communication makes explicit usage of the geographical/physical context as referent to the message content.

RFID / Unique Identification

Commission:

proposes a European policy strategy for smart radio tags.

Smart tag policy:

European citizens are getting the chance to shape policy on smart tags.

PORTAL:

user experiences on combining location sensitive mobile phone applications and multimedia messaging.

Thinglink:

is a free product code for creative work.

Hybrid World

Making things talk

Book review and information

Endless Landscapes:

a device for storytelling with myriad combinations.

Blast Theory:

The famous hybrid world theatre makers.

Fused Space:

This was an international competition for new technology in/ as public space.

ARGN:

Alternate Reality Gaming Network. Alternative Reality Games are game sin which the boundaries between game and non-game and between real and imganiginary and between the offline and the online are porous...

RFID

The RFIDJournal.com:

general resource on RFID technology (case studies, glossary, development). Includes an extensive introduction to the technical and historical roots of this technology.

An extensive glossary of RFID related terms by ideologixsys.com.

RFID primer

of the Association for Automatic Identification and Mobility (AIM Global).

The RFID handbook (2003)

By Klaus Finkenzeller

Provides a very thorough analysis of the technologies related to RFID, and some of the technical challenges that are to be met. The book contains information on the industry standards and regulations. Furthermore, the book elaborates on the physical principles behind RFID technologies such as inductive coupling, surface acoustic waves and the emerging UHF and microwave backscatter systems. It contains an exhaustive appendix providing listings of RFID associations, journals and standards.

RFID: The next generation of AIDC (2005)

By Zebra Technologies

Within the field of Automatic Identification and Data Capture applications, RFID is the fastest growing technology. Improving buisiness processes by RFID is the central theme of this article. Manufacturing, product security, warehousing, shipping, logistics, retail, libraries, cashless payment, and personal security are applications the author discusses. The benefits of applying RFID in buisiness processes are clear. Efficiency, reduced loss and improved service are a few of them. See the section on White papers

RFID and the media revolution

By Mary Catherine O’Connor

O’Connor discusses futurologist Paul Saffo’s ideas on the impact of RFID on our personal lives. Saffo, a technology forecaster and researcher, assumes that “smartifacts" are essentially a “media revolution." Little helpers, which observe the world on our behalf, will change our relation to the physical world. The central question of his work is: What will a particular new technology cause in society and buisiness? Saffo not only looks at the benefits this new technology, but also pays attention to the disadvantages and changes it will bring in our everyday lives.

Innoveren met RFID. Op de golven van verbetering (2004).

By Marcel van Trier and Jan Willem Rietdijk

You can find everything about RFID in this book. Covering the history, development, and outlooks, the authors present the challenges RFID poses for the future. The book gives insights into the practical uses of RFID for IT- and buisinessmanagers. Ideas of how to use RFID in everyday life is given from the perspective of the practical world.

Elastic Space

By Timo Arnall
Elastic Space is Timo Arnall's blog, posting about interaction design, RFID implementations and other locative technologies, he gives us a personal take on all these subjects.

Blackbeltjones

By Matt Jones
Blackbeltjones is the personal blog of Matt Jones. Ranging from embodied interaction to H.G. Wells, Matt comments on all things blogged or locative.

The Internet of things

Reader on the Internet of Things.

Contains miscellaneous links.

UN predicts 'internet of things'.

Changes brought about by the internet will be dwarfed by those prompted by the networking of everyday objects, says a report by a UN body. The study looks at how the use of electronic tags and sensors could create an "internet of things".

Toward a global “Internet of Things" (2003)

By Steve Meloan

Steve Meloan is journalist, writer and former software developer. In this article he explains the use, setup and possibilities of RFID. He explains the Electronic Product Code (EPC), a sort of IP adress for physical objects, and its relevance for tracking individual objects. RFID enables computers to recognize and identify many everyday objects and hence, create an ‘ internet of things’ . A challenging text which asks developpers to conceive of network devices as something which exists also outside the computer.

RFID and the internet of things

Rfid gives us information about where things are and what is happening to them. We can use this information for creating an internet of things. With this new possibility we can link products to people for example and identify people and assets without human intervention, enabling computer systems to not only identify objects.

The Networked Physical World

Computer technologies are only useful when they have been brought into the circle of everyday life. People will discover the advantages of RFID and find new uses when they actually start using it. Creating a network of physical things will mark a new step in networking behaviour.

A Manifesto for Networked Objects (2005)

By Julian Bleecker

“Things" in the pervasive Internet, will become first-class citizens with which we will interact and communicate. Things will have to be taken into account as they assume the role of socially relevant actors and strong-willed agents that create social capital and reconfigure the ways in which we live within and move about physical space.

Shaping Things (2005)

By Bruce Sterling

Provides an introduction to the Internet of Things, and elaborates on the future of (industrial) design. The MIT Press website mentions the following: "The future will see a new kind of object -- we have the primitive forms of them now in our pockets and briefcases: user-alterable, baroquely multi-featured, and programmable -- that will be sustainable, enhanceable, and uniquely identifiable. Sterling coins the term "spime" for them, these future manufactured objects with informational support so extensive and rich that they are regarded as material instantiations of an immaterial system. Spimes are designed on screens, fabricated by digital means, and precisely tracked through space and time."
Bruce Sterling also maintains a weblog.

RFID and Beyond. Growing Your Business Through Real World Awareness (2005)

By Claus Heinrich

Claus Heinrich goes beyond the technical limitations of RFID to track the main effects RFID applications will have on business, the technical world, and society. The author expands the idea of RFID to coin the phrase of Real World Awareness.

Tag, you’re it: Privacy implications of Radio frequency identification technology (2004)

By Ann Cavoukian

In this reader, the privacy issue concerning RFID plays the central role. After a very clear explanation of the meaning of RFID, the working of the technology, the explanation of the types of RFID systems, and an introduction on the privacy topic, the terms RFID and privacy are combined. All the things we buy, every where we go, at what time, which website we visit and what we communicate can be registrated through RFID readers. Do we have to give up our privacy for the advantages of the new technology? How far are we willing to go at this point?

Mapping Complexities

VisualComplexity.com intends to be a unified resource space for anyone interested in the visualization of complex networks. The project's main goal is to leverage a critical understanding of different visualization methods, across a series of disciplines, as diverse as Biology, Social Networks or the World Wide Web. I truly hope this space can inspire, motivate and enlighten any person doing research on this field.

RFID and the use in everyday life: current implementations

Lifestyle Monitoring:

Finish scientist have run a study on food information readable by mobile phones. Participants could gather product information about fat and carbohydrates apart from details of the production chain. Their purchase was synchronized with diet and workout schedules. This form of "Lifestyle Monitoring" could be extended to other fields of daily activity with RFID readers implemented in mobile phones.

“Wi-Fi watches the kids".

On the usage of RFID in Legoland.

RFID chef.

RFID Chef is a prototype application in the household domain that is used to experiment with various technical and methodological aspects in ubiquitous computing. It uses radio frequency identification (RFID) technology to connect real-world artifacts, like groceries, to a digital representation.

RFID will make life easier, work more efficient, and communication more direct. Things are easily traceable and important information about objects is quickly available. But how do we see the usability RFID in our lives? In other words, how can RFID be applied? Here are some projects with a logistical gist.

The number of RFID related projects, mainly in logistical and storage applications is growing by the day. The RFID gazette offers a large categorized archive.

No more lost luggage

By Raquib Siddiq

RFID tags are likely to make lost luggage a thing of the past. Schiphol airport (Amsterdam) and various international airlines plan to tag individual suitcases to retrace and direct them easily.

Siemens to pilot RFID bracelets for health care

By Ephraim Schwartz

Rfid chips attached to the patient are more efficient for the medical staff. The patient’s personal information is read by an RFID reader instead of medical staff running to and fro between patient and computer. Similar to another project by Verisign , which currently tags hospital patients. Read more about how the Electronic PRODUCT Code could soon become an Electronic PERSON Code.

UK consumers against the pervasive use of rfid in our society

RFID and it's disadvantages in everyday life.

An RFID weblog

“ This vision of the Internet of Things may sound like part of a sci-fi movie script, but scientists and technologists believe it is achievable -- sooner than you think.???

Non-logistical RFID Projects

Observe your children

Several applications in Japan are geared to parents who want to keep track of their children. A system which sends SMS to parents, when children leave school was developed by Tomas. Another example are school uniforms with GPS tags. The only way to have some privacy? Take off your jacket! Also GPS School bags are becoming increasingly popular. With a tag on every item in the bag you don’t even have to open it, to know what’s inside.

Dogs as Networkers

Not strictly an RFID application, but similar. Through a chip in a dog collar, your dog can be a social networker and establich connections for you to ... other dog owners. The system works through proximity and time parameters. Another gadget from the MIT kitchen.

Lifestyle Monitoring

Finish scientist have run a study on food information readable by mobile phones. Participants could gather product information about fat and carbohydrates apart from details of the production chain. Their purchase was synchronized with diet and workout schedules. This form of "Lifestyle Monitoring" could be extended to other fields of daily activity with RFID readers impelmented in mobile phones.

Keeping track of the tracks

RFID tags in pavements help blind people to find the right way. Also handy in case of heavy snowfalls. Japanese town Aomori runs a test case.

RFID tags as media are currently tested in Japanese Town Asakusa. Tourists can get information on buildings and sights by reading tags attached to them. An information environment attached to the physical world.

RFID Art Projects

Tracking Virtual Identity

By Nancy Nisbet

A project by artist Nancy Nisbet investigating the relationship between technology and humans. Her main question is how rfid can be used to track movements of virtual personas and store associated data. She implants rfid chips in both of her hands to register her online behaviour via a reader in her mouse. A daring convergence of virtual and physical identity.

Exchange 2006

is a project which features Nisbet's personal belonging being traded around the US in a truck which is supervised by RFID tags. A critique of privacy infringement, commercialization and the blurring of the public and the private body.

Urban Eyes

By Jussi Angesleva and Marcus Kirsch

Urban Eyes is a project on the surveillance of public space by cameras and RFID tags. Still in the planning, Urban Eyes is based on pidgeon travelling the urban space. Through a tag fed to them in granulated form they trigger cameras. The images are send to phones and PDA's allowing the feeder/user to track the pidgeon's path through the city.

MEASC

By Polar Produce

Polar Produce is a Bristol based experimental art company that examines the growth of consumarism and mass ditribution by means of a live multimedia performace-installation called MEASC. In the performance visitors swap their Measc ticket for a map in which an RFID tag is embedded. As they walk around the space their tagged map is read and used to trigger multimedia content – sound, visuals, music and graphics. On top of this, 9 tagged performers from contemporary dance and theatre also interact with visitors, with the building and with each other.

RFID Technology

Tips and tricks on the techy aspects of RFID.

RFID-related references

Matthew Karau, former researcher at the Media Lab Europe and technical assistent at Mediamatic's RFID workshops, has made an extensive collection of useful links and papers available online for former and future workshop participants. His presentation about RFID technology, visuals and some Processing demo's are also included.

RFID sets to buy

If you want to practice with RFID material, and get your hands on an RFID-set, please read this information first.

This kit costs € 200, =