Advanced interaction metaphors for RFID-tagged physical artefacts

Over the past decade, millions of artefacts have been tagged using the RFID technology. They have been augmented with a digital presence and integrated into various processes and workflows. However, RFID is still mainly regarded as a link between a physical artefact and a digital database. Location, fixation and appearance of RFID tags are solely functional parameters with little reference to interaction aspects of the design of the artefact. It is time to go beyond this information-centric view of RFID. An RFID-tagged artefact is a digitally augmented part of the real world and interacting with such an artefact therefore provides subjective meaning for their users, both in itself and within its particular context. Thus, these interactions need to be carefully integrated into the prevalent workflows of the users. A natural and convenient interaction with augmented artefacts is crucial for the success of future RFID-applications. In this study we present a thorough investigation of advanced metaphors for interacting with RFID-tagged physical artefacts in a rich real-world context. We show how these metaphors may intuitively augment physical artefacts and how they may improve relevant industrial workflows. Therefore we present a number of case studies in the domain of industrial maintenance. We also present a novel RFID reading-glove that was used in our studies. This glove differs from existing products by its special antenna configuration allowing natural reading by simple finger-pointing. Finally, we discuss implementation issues of the proposed interaction metaphors in industrial applications.