Use of Near Field Communication in Culture 2.0

After many years of thorough data collection and digitalisation of objects in cultural institutions, the era of presentation, data usage, and data exploitation has arrived. The steady reduction in prices of NFC/RFID tags and the increasing popularity of smart phones with NFC support make the use of this technology interesting and affordable for smaller museums or archives. As part of a funded project, SeCoS, an application for smartphones, has been developed at the institute in collaboration with cultural institutions that enables these institutions to offer useful background information as an app for exhibitions. Only in this way, is it possible for the public to access “hoarded” treasure troves of background information. An estimated 50% of RFID chips used worldwide have been developed in Graz (Styria), Austria. Styrian companies are leaders in the field of chip innovation for applications such as access control, electronic tickets, and electronic payments. In a period where cultural budgets are continually decreasing, it is increasingly important that cultural institutions become embedded in the public consciousness. Due to the increasing popularity of smartphones and improvements in technology, visitors can more easily bring to mind exhibitions offered by cultural institutions that offer apps. This application type is tailored to the needs of museums or archives that want to provide background information for a limited number of objects at, for example, exhibitions. NFC tags are attached on or next to objects. When the visitor places their mobile phone over the tag, the app can automatically access detailed information about the object and display it. The information on the mobile phone can be synchronized with software on the visitor’s smartphone or tablet, as well as to the corresponding cultural database. In addition, the app also records additional information (e.g., photos) and appends them to the specific objects.