Android app uses NFC to boost participation in cultural exhibits

Visitors that went to the STRP Festival – one of the top art and technology events in Europe – had the ability to use near field communication (NFC) enabled smartphones for enhanced interaction with the cultural exhibits.

Through the use of an app, Android-based smartphones gave visitors the chance to use an exhibited artwork to obtain detailed information simply by tapping it over one of the NFC tags. This triggers a digital voice message.

The mobile app also let its users decide how much they “love” a particular piece of art, by letting them assign up to five “hearts” to it. They can also assign a keyword tag to it, or share it with their friends and other contacts using social media. The art at the exhibit that is tapped with mobile devices can also be turned into a personalized poster, which will use the collaboratively combined opinions of visitors.

The hope is that the app will help to promote cultural participation, while providing enrichment to the experience at the festival and giving a whole new level to what NFC has to offer.

The STRP Festival’s director, Frens Frijns, stated that part of the experience at the cultural festival includes creative new artistic ways to use technology on an experimental level. He said that “we believe that the ‘Internet of Things’ is evolving into a ‘clickable world’.”

He also added that they are the first event of this nature in the world that gives users the type of experience that provides them with a better chance to obtain an understanding of the art with greater depth “art while giving them the ability to share their own interpretation, introducing a new social dimension to art interpretation in the festival experience.”