Oxfam Shelflife Archives - Digital Urban

Oxfam Shelflife: Making Charity Shops Social Museums via the Internet of Things

Andy — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 05:32:00 +0000

As reported on today’s BBC Technology, Oxfam has launched its new Shelflife system linking goods with the past using QRCodes.

Ever wished an object could tell its story? That’s the idea behind Oxfam’s unique pilot scheme, Oxfam Shelflife. Powered and based on the idea behind Tales of Things, the Oxfam Shelflife app uses QR codes to enable the public to discover the stories behind Oxfam’s donated, ethical and Unwrapped products, and even share their own stories for the items they donate.

The project is the latest innovation from Oxfam which promotes sustainability by encouraging people to look beyond disposable consumerism. The stories behind vintage and second-hand items are all part of their desirability. At the moment these stories can be lost when an item is acquired by a new owner but Oxfam Shelflife enables the stories to stay with the items in a more long-lasting way.

Oxfam’s Sarah Farquhar, Head of Retail Brand said: “Every item has a story to tell and Oxfam Shelflife enables people to share these stories. We’ve found that items with an interesting story behind them are instantly more appealing to our customers so we hope Oxfam Shelflife will encourage people to love items for longer. This commitment to sustainability is an important part of what Oxfam shops bring to the high street.”

The scheme allows donors to ‘tag’ a QR code to their donated object, using the free Oxfam Shelflife app on their iPhone and share the story behind the item for the next owner to discover.Shoppers who visit the participating Oxfam stores can then scan the QR code on the item, via the app, which will take them to the unique story behind the object. Usually QR codes direct users to a website or URL but the Oxfam Shelflife app enables users to engage and interact with the technology, taking QR codes on to a new level.

The concept behind Oxfam Shelflife is based on an original idea developed by the Tales of Things initiative (TOTeM: Tales of Things and Electronic Memory), a collaboration between five British universities: University College London, The University of Edinburgh/Edinburgh College of Art, Brunel University, the University of Dundee and the University of Salford. The TOTeM initiative was funded by a £1.4m grant from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.

How does it work? Take a look at the Oxfam Shelflife intro:

It is hard to put into the words the pride we have in the project, from an idea and technology born in a research Sandpit funded by the Digital Economy Research Councils UK through to a refined and redesigned concept running in Oxfam Shops. The whole system went through a complete series of user testing and design stages to produce an app and system as simple as possible while still building on the concept of read/write Internet of Things tagging. Oxfam now has its first every smart phone app and its based on the Internet of Things, making every shop a social museum. Although the best part is helping Oxfam in its mission to help transform lives via attaching stories and memories to second hand goods.

We will have more on Shelflife in coming days/weeks as well a news on a new ‘Powered by Tales of Things’ site coming soon, created via the new API.

Head over to http://shelflife.oxfam.org.uk/ to view some of the hundreds of objects donated with stories.

The post Oxfam Shelflife: Making Charity Shops Social Museums via the Internet of Things appeared first on Digital Urban.

RememberMe: Future Everything and the Internet of Things

Andy — Thu, 06 May 2010 15:01:00 +0000

Have you ever wanted to know the story behind the things you buy? Who owned the object from that charity shop and what about its history, the memories associated with it and why is it now for sale?

In association with Oxfam and part of the Manchester Future Everything Festival (12th-15th May) we are putting the history back into objects with the Art Project: RememberMe.

At the Oxford Road branch of Oxfam in Manchester, TOTeM (Tales of Things and Electronic Memory) will be attaching stories to the things that people leave behind, and allow new owners to access them.

The Oxfam Shop is appealing for donations of all shapes and sizes that can be tagged with memories as part of the in-store exhibition. Oxfam manager Emma Cooney has asked people to “Help us be part of this exciting project. Anyone who wants to share their memories of the things they donate to the shop is welcome to take part. It’s entirely voluntary, but maybe a once treasured object you no longer want has a story that can be passed on to its new owner”.

The advent of digital tagging technology means that every new object in the future will be tagged and logged in a database accruing logistical information such as temperatures, prices, owners and transportation. The exhibition RememberMe introduces an opportunity to build an Internet of Old Things based upon stories not data. By attaching a barcode loaded with memories about the clothes and artefacts that visitors donate to the Whitworth Park branch of Oxfam, things will gain a social and cultural value.

Using scanners, delegates of Future Everything and the general public will be able to listen to memories and buy objects that come tagged with their very own story. We will have more on the ‘scanners’ soon – think iPhone RFID reader / Bluetooth Android device and with full details on how to make them yourself….

The RememberMe artwork is a collaborative project between TOTeM and Oxfam in Manchester which will be showcased at the Future Everything Festival (12-15 May 2010). During the time leading up to Future Everything (FE), a research assistant will be based in the shop and will ask people who drop things off to tell a brief story about one of the objects into a microphone: where they acquired it, what memories it brings back and any associated stories.

With their permission, this audio clip will be linked to an RFID tag and QR code. During the event, all items that have been tagged with a story will then join the shop’s stock. Visitors to the shop, including conference delegates will be invited to use our bespoke RFID readers, or their own smart phone to browse artefacts that are displayed amongst the many thousands of other objects.

Labels will highlight the RememberMe objects and once triggered, speakers located in the shop will replay the story, evoking ghosts of the past. Once tagged the objects are in the public domain for purchase by other members of the community, our iPhone apps will allow them to access the story for years to come.