Sep 15, 2008

Filed under: All, Art, Furniture, Innovation
Tags: Art, chair, following, RFID
Posted by: everybodycandesign
0 Comments

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The more non-technical use of chips

I’m sure everyone has either experienced or seen the RFID-chip (Raido Frequency IDentification) if you’re living in Holland. The public transport in Rotterdam has been using them for a couple of years now, as well as England and a couple of other countries. But did you know you can actually do some pretty creative (and for some, useful) things with those chips?

Some companies might use them to store information on them and follow you to see where you go (like on the metrolines), but what about using the chips to have something else follow you?

Try a chair for example. Designed by Jelte van Geest as a graduation project, it’s a chair for a library that works with the RFID-chip. Hold your librarypass in front of it when walking into the library-area, it will follow you around wherever you go (within it’s vicinity of course). So whenever you find a book and would like to read, you just have to turn around and sit down.

While this isn’t directly graphic design, although the chair looks pretty artsy, it does show that you can be creative with other things than a pencil or sculpture.

No Comments for The more non-technical use of chips

Ken Allsebrook | September 15, 2008 at 21:59

That has got to be a wind up!!!!

everybodycandesign | September 16, 2008 at 17:16

No, seriously, it is a remarkably simple solution!

Joram Oudenaarde | September 16, 2008 at 20:01

I’m not a libraryperson, but with those kind of chairs I would definately read a book… even if it’s just to geek around with those gadgets! Hmmm… having one of those at home would be crazy :)

Ma | September 18, 2008 at 15:07

Hope you’re not thinking of putting it on your Christma list !

feesch | September 22, 2008 at 03:35

Hi! A fellow blogger who also sees the potential but am wondering if you have considered the flip side?. You may be interested in my blog, look at RFID categories.

Here’s a couple of artcles:
http://deandonaldson.wordpress.com/2007/11/22/no-verichip-inside/

or
http://deandonaldson.wordpress.com/2008/03/23/the-last-enemy-%e2%80%93-living-in-the-uk/

just to folow this one through to its logical conclusion.

everybodycandesign | September 22, 2008 at 12:16

I totally understand your worries. As a designer I have been under pressure to use this sort of technology for a long time now, but won’t personally as I think the lack of security and intrusive nature is far from a good thing.

But, when used in this fashion it is almost perfect. Hire a chair/card from the main library reception and you are good to go, it doesn’t even need to be your own library card that you use to follow you around. That’s what we like most about this, it isn’t (or at very least, doesn’t need to be) intrusive – they will only know if you stopped in that special aisle in the library that houses all those nude “Art” books that people seem to love so much ;-)

Cheers for reading.