VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland is managing a new international co-operative project, Smarttouch, which is targeted at finding new, versatile applications for mobile devices.
The technologies employed in the project will bring different services literally within reach of touch; in the local catering service for the elderly of the City of Oulu, in Finland, for example, the simple act of touching a catering menu item with a mobile phone will automatically place the order and bring the selected meal directly to the home of the service user.
The same technology can also be applied to paying for shopping or purchasing public transport tickets.
The goal of the ITEA/Eureka project managed by VTT is to develop versatile and easy-to-use mobile services based on NFC (Near Field Communication) technology. NFC enables the acquisition and transmission of data between the mobile device and the service system - for example, by touching an NFC tag carrying service related information, or by touching a specific reader device connected to related infrastructure on a bus or at a shop checkout.
Another application is proximity-based data transfer, which refers to initiating data transfer by bringing a smart device (such as a mobile phone) close to another device (such as a computer, TV set, DVD player, or another mobile phone). This functionality, for example, will allow images to be transmitted from a mobile phone to a printer or to a computer for storing or further processing.
In Finland, the new mobile technologies are piloted in the City of Oulu, where the local catering service for the elderly will be piloting a catering order system using mobile phones equipped with NFC readers. A simple touch of the desired menu item will automatically transmit the order to the service provider. The objective is to support elderly people living at home by monitoring and automatic registration of meal orders, which is expected to cut down on manual work. This pilot has been implemented by Top Tunniste together with VTT. By implementing efficient service systems, this project aims to enable the administrative units of the City of Oulu to help its citizens manage their daily activities more easily. Practical applications will include services for elderly people, catering, logistics, access control and health services.
The same technology can also be applied to paying for shopping and purchasing public transport tickets. The smart card used in the NFC device can be any limited-value charge card, such as a city card, a library card, a bus card, a cinema ticket, or a sports event ticket. The consumer will be able to manage the card and monitor its use on the mobile phone by reviewing the card use log on the phone display, for example. The technology enables the service provider to deliver the service card to the customer via the mobile network much more cost-efficiently compared with traditional methods.
Other ongoing pilot projects include public transport ticketing systems in the cities of Oulu, Turku and Tampere, and access control systems of public premises.
According to Mr Gerhard Romen, the chairman of the NFC forum marketing committee, Smarttouch applications provide good examples of the use of the NFC technology in making everyday life easier. These examples also make people more aware of NFC-related business opportunities and of the roles of the different parties involved.
It is predicted by VTT that NFC technology will be part of our everyday lives in the near future. The company's research and development activities in the field of mobile services cover the entire product chain from creating new concepts for mobile services to piloting and implementing products.
The ITEA Smarttouch (Browsing Through Smart Objects Around You) project involves 19 participants from eight different EU countries. Members of Smarttouch consortium are Alcatel, Buscom, City of Oulu, Dan Company, Gemalto, Idesco, Innovision Research and Technology, KU Leuven, Medictouch, Nokia, Nordea, Philips CE, the Innovation Lab, Rain-Main-Verkehrsverbund, Robotiker, Telefónica Investigación y Desarrollo SA, Unipersonal, Teliasonera, Telvent Tráfico y Transporte SA, Top Tunniste and VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland.
This project, which is worth more than EUR30million, is to be completed in 2008. It is the largest single NFC technology related venture funded by TEKES (the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation) in Finland.
For more information, visit www.vtt.fi or www.smarttouch.org
"