Cooper Hewitt museum nfc tag

Cooper Hewitt Engages Museum Visitors With NFC Tags

August 17, 2015
After closing museum doors for an extensive 3 year renovation project, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian  design museum, located in the Carnegie Mansion in New York City, reopened December 2014 with an exciting NFC project used to engage visitors. Cooper Hewitt chose GoToTags to help integrate NFC technology to create unique interactive gallery exhibits. The focus was to not just teach visitors about the history of design but to actually empower visitors to become designers themselves.

When visitors enter the museum they are given an NFC-enabled stylus pen (“the Pen”) to carry with them throughout their visit. As visitors wander through exhibits they encounter wall labels with NFC inlays affixed near objects such as lighting fixtures, furniture, wallpaper or decorative pieces. By tapping these tags with the pen, the reader stores the unique tag ID which is associated with the work. Fourteen high definition tables and screens are scattered throughout the museum. The largest tables allow up to six users to simultaneously explore high resolution images of collection objects including those saved with the pen; select items from the “object river” that flows down the center of each table; zoom in on object details and learn about related objects organized by design theme and motif. They can also draw a shape that will bring up a related collection object, or try their hand at drawing simple three-dimensional forms.

After users save their finished designs, they can access their objects later using the unique URL provided on the pen and post them on social media. Using the pens, smart tables and NFC tags gives museum visitors the opportunity to learn about design by becoming designers!

With inlays purchased from GoToTags, Cooper Hewitt has demonstrated a creative way to engage users with NFC. This high tech museum adds interest and engagement for museum visitors allowing each individual to create an experience that is all their own! Due to the tap to interact nature of NFC tags, NFC products are an ideal way to increase interaction and engagement among customers. As more and more people and industries become aware of NFC we can expect to see more interactive exhibits, shopping experiences and educational tools.