The interactive system is designed to be non intrusive while enabling members of the pubic to simply type in their thoughts and interpretation of museum objects and click ‘send’. Their interpretation become part of the objects history and ultimately the display itself via the interactive label system to allow the display of comments and information directly next to the artefacts.

The project is powered by Tales of Things technology which has developed a method for cataloguing physical objects online and capture memories and stories via the Internet of Things. QRator takes the technology a step further bringing the opportunity to move the discussion of objects direct to the museum label and onto a digital collaborative interpretation label, users’ mobile phones, and online allowing the creation of a sustainable, world-leading model for two-way public interaction in museum spaces.


At its heart QRator is an iPad/iPhone and web based system that allows everyone to be a curator and share their views on an exhibition. Visitors can examine an object before leaving their thoughts via an iPad to create a digital, ‘living’ label that subsequent visitors can read and respond to.

By downloading a free application to an iPhone or android phone, visitors are able to see rolling updates to the digital label after they leave the museum, or via twitter. Participants are also able to take part in the conversation online via the QRator site with comments appearing live within the museum.

Content currently covers two museums at UCL; The Grant Museum of Zoology and The Petrie Museum of Egyptology. he Grant Museum of Zoology is one of the oldest natural history collections in England, dating back to 1827. The collection comprises over 68,000 skeletal, taxidermy and wet specimens, covering the whole of the animal kingdom. Many of the species are now endangered or extinct including the Tasmanian tiger or thylacine, the quagga and the dodo. The Grant Museum is the only remaining university zoology museum in London.

The post Introducing QRator – iPad and Web Based Living Labels for Museums appeared first on Digital Urban.

We are proud to of just been featured on Mashable’s Spark of Genius series, which highlights a unique feature of startups. The series is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark. Below we give full details of TalesofThings, how you can start ‘life logging’ your stuff and how you can tag architecture and make buildings tweet.

Quick Pitch: Adding memories and stories to objects and places via the Internet of Things and read/write QR codes.
Genius Idea: The Internet of Things is a growing trend; the term defines the idea of objects that are tagged, web-connected and endowed with the ability to relay data. This startup is all about the Internet of Things; in fact, it helps ordinary people add objects to the Internet of Things with just a few simple tools, such as a smartphone and a printer.
Tales of Things has developed read/write QR codes that helps preserve memories that people have attached to objects or places. Once an object is labeled with a scannable QR code, its movements can be tracked, as well as any subsequent stories. Each object has the ability to tweet when its memories are scanned, as well.
All the user has to do is photograph the object or place to be tagged, write a few words or upload a video about it, print out a site-generated QR code and affix the code to the item or at the place. From that point forward, the place or thing can be tracked through TalesofThings.com.Think of the site as an “antique roadshow of the future.”

Everything has a location so we are creating a ‘Geography of Everything’, a brave claim perhaps but one that develops a new a new kind of geography, the geography of things. Simply click on the map to set a location, your object will now become part of the ‘World of Things‘ map.

Thats it, your object will now become part of the Internet of Things and will be able to tweet, have new stories/tales added as its passed on, sold or interacted with. It is all part of a Social Web of Things or SWOT as its known.

Each thing created gets assigned a unique ‘qrcode’ which can be attached to your object. For example, we have attached a qrcode to our office here in CASA which visitors scan using our free iPhone app. This ‘virtual guest book’ allows our office to recall the story of CASA and the people that pass through our doors. You can print out your codes via the site and attach them to anything.

Any media can be added to you object, the clip below provides a glimpse of the system running via our recent link up with Oxfam via Future Everything, complete with the iPhone RFID reader:

Its simple to do, just sign up, upload a image of your building of choice (under 2mb) and add a story. Your building will then go live and your be able to add it to the architecture group. If you want you can also print out a QRCode that you can stick to the building allowing anyone to scan the code and add to the story/history of the building via the free iPhone/Android apps.
Your building will also be able to ‘Tweet’ everytime it is scanned or a new comment/story added, it will also become part of the ‘World of Things’ map – a place to view all the objects added so far to the site.

We are working on ways to make the objects more location aware and aware of near by objects, it could be interesting over the next few months to see how this develops. We look forward to seeing some of your buildings on the site and will sort out some sort of prize for the best stories…
Finally TalesofThings.com allows any object to be given its own webpage and ability to tweet, i.e. it allows any ‘thing’ to become connected. As such we have built an ‘Arduino Thing’ that welcomes all new objects joining the Internet of Things with a ‘Hi’ in Morse Code – the movie below reveals all:

You can start tagging anything and everything via talesofthings.com

The post Spark of Genius Series: TalesofThings QR Codes and Life Logging appeared first on Digital Urban.

We are proud to of just been featured on Mashable’s Spark of Genius series, which highlights a unique feature of startups. The series is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark. Below we give full details of TalesofThings, how you can start ‘life logging’ your stuff and how you can tag architecture and make buildings tweet.

Quick Pitch: Adding memories and stories to objects and places via the Internet of Things and read/write QR codes.
Genius Idea: The Internet of Things is a growing trend; the term defines the idea of objects that are tagged, web-connected and endowed with the ability to relay data. This startup is all about the Internet of Things; in fact, it helps ordinary people add objects to the Internet of Things with just a few simple tools, such as a smartphone and a printer.
Tales of Things has developed read/write QR codes that helps preserve memories that people have attached to objects or places. Once an object is labeled with a scannable QR code, its movements can be tracked, as well as any subsequent stories. Each object has the ability to tweet when its memories are scanned, as well.
All the user has to do is photograph the object or place to be tagged, write a few words or upload a video about it, print out a site-generated QR code and affix the code to the item or at the place. From that point forward, the place or thing can be tracked through TalesofThings.com.Think of the site as an “antique roadshow of the future.”

Everything has a location so we are creating a ‘Geography of Everything’, a brave claim perhaps but one that develops a new a new kind of geography, the geography of things. Simply click on the map to set a location, your object will now become part of the ‘World of Things‘ map.

Thats it, your object will now become part of the Internet of Things and will be able to tweet, have new stories/tales added as its passed on, sold or interacted with. It is all part of a Social Web of Things or SWOT as its known.

Each thing created gets assigned a unique ‘qrcode’ which can be attached to your object. For example, we have attached a qrcode to our office here in CASA which visitors scan using our free iPhone app. This ‘virtual guest book’ allows our office to recall the story of CASA and the people that pass through our doors. You can print out your codes via the site and attach them to anything.

Any media can be added to you object, the clip below provides a glimpse of the system running via our recent link up with Oxfam via Future Everything, complete with the iPhone RFID reader:

Its simple to do, just sign up, upload a image of your building of choice (under 2mb) and add a story. Your building will then go live and your be able to add it to the architecture group. If you want you can also print out a QRCode that you can stick to the building allowing anyone to scan the code and add to the story/history of the building via the free iPhone/Android apps.
Your building will also be able to ‘Tweet’ everytime it is scanned or a new comment/story added, it will also become part of the ‘World of Things’ map – a place to view all the objects added so far to the site.

We are working on ways to make the objects more location aware and aware of near by objects, it could be interesting over the next few months to see how this develops. We look forward to seeing some of your buildings on the site and will sort out some sort of prize for the best stories…
Finally TalesofThings.com allows any object to be given its own webpage and ability to tweet, i.e. it allows any ‘thing’ to become connected. As such we have built an ‘Arduino Thing’ that welcomes all new objects joining the Internet of Things with a ‘Hi’ in Morse Code – the movie below reveals all:

You can start tagging anything and everything via talesofthings.com

The post Spark of Genius Series: TalesofThings QR Codes and Life Logging appeared first on Digital Urban.

As Wired states: The project has been tagging architecture for a few months. In one location in Chalk Farm, a wall that used to feature a piece from Banksy that has a tag that lets scanners see what the work looked like. The BBC’s Broadcasting House has also been covered in tags. In one Oxfam shop in Manchester, the project used RFID tags and QR codes to allow objects to be tagged with the memories of those who donated them.

Tales of the City starts off with a pre-placed tag at the historic heart of Shoreditch, St Leonard’s Church. From there you will be able to spot tags (QR codes) on Shoreditch High Street which you can add your own stories to, contributing to the growing network of tagged architecture.

This will enable people to form a personalised tour of London’s contemporary history through architecture. If you have an iPhone or an Android handset be sure to download our free app – talesofthings to enable you to leave comments on the QR codes, or create your own codes to put on your favourite buildings.

In order to take part simply download our free “talesofthings” app for your iPhone or Android and when you spot a code on a building scan the code to add your own memory such as what the building used to be, why it is important to you or perhaps it is simply a building you hate.

If you don’t have a smartphone you can still take part by visiting our website www.youtotem/talesofthecity where you can clip on the map and add comments to buildings which have been tagged.

Tales of the City is part of ‘TOTeM’ – a collaborative research project run by Edinburgh College of Art, Brunel University, University College London, University of Dundee and University of Salford. This project aims to find a new way of preserving social history – through people’s memories. People will be able to preserve their family/community history by “tagging” (labelling) their personal objects via our website www.talesofthings.com. Users will be able to attach memories to their objects in the form of video, text or audio, this will enable future generations to have a greater understanding of the object’s past. TOTeM will carry out its research initially through case studies with different community groups who are not included in a written history of our time but their experiences and memories are just as valuable.

Its simple to tag architecture and objects with memories – you simply upload a photo, give it a story and print a QRCode:

The project aims to offer a new way for people to place more value on their own objects in an increasingly disposable economy. As more importance is placed on the objects that are already parts of people’s lives it is hoped that family or friends may find new uses for old objects and encourage people to think twice before throwing something away.

If your in Shoreditch be sure to look out for the QRCodes, of course its not limited to Shoreditch, you can tag anything and everything with stories via http://www.talesofthings.com

The post Tales of the City: QRCodes, Architecture and Wired appeared first on Digital Urban.

As Wired states: The project has been tagging architecture for a few months. In one location in Chalk Farm, a wall that used to feature a piece from Banksy that has a tag that lets scanners see what the work looked like. The BBC’s Broadcasting House has also been covered in tags. In one Oxfam shop in Manchester, the project used RFID tags and QR codes to allow objects to be tagged with the memories of those who donated them.

Tales of the City starts off with a pre-placed tag at the historic heart of Shoreditch, St Leonard’s Church. From there you will be able to spot tags (QR codes) on Shoreditch High Street which you can add your own stories to, contributing to the growing network of tagged architecture.

This will enable people to form a personalised tour of London’s contemporary history through architecture. If you have an iPhone or an Android handset be sure to download our free app – talesofthings to enable you to leave comments on the QR codes, or create your own codes to put on your favourite buildings.

In order to take part simply download our free “talesofthings” app for your iPhone or Android and when you spot a code on a building scan the code to add your own memory such as what the building used to be, why it is important to you or perhaps it is simply a building you hate.

If you don’t have a smartphone you can still take part by visiting our website www.youtotem/talesofthecity where you can clip on the map and add comments to buildings which have been tagged.

Tales of the City is part of ‘TOTeM’ – a collaborative research project run by Edinburgh College of Art, Brunel University, University College London, University of Dundee and University of Salford. This project aims to find a new way of preserving social history – through people’s memories. People will be able to preserve their family/community history by “tagging” (labelling) their personal objects via our website www.talesofthings.com. Users will be able to attach memories to their objects in the form of video, text or audio, this will enable future generations to have a greater understanding of the object’s past. TOTeM will carry out its research initially through case studies with different community groups who are not included in a written history of our time but their experiences and memories are just as valuable.

Its simple to tag architecture and objects with memories – you simply upload a photo, give it a story and print a QRCode:

The project aims to offer a new way for people to place more value on their own objects in an increasingly disposable economy. As more importance is placed on the objects that are already parts of people’s lives it is hoped that family or friends may find new uses for old objects and encourage people to think twice before throwing something away.

If your in Shoreditch be sure to look out for the QRCodes, of course its not limited to Shoreditch, you can tag anything and everything with stories via http://www.talesofthings.com

The post Tales of the City: QRCodes, Architecture and Wired appeared first on Digital Urban.

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.

TOTeM has created a new iPhone RFID reader especially for this piece Using a jailbroken phone and off the shelf circuits, the reader can replay memories by simply ‘swiping’ near the object. The team plan to release a ‘how to make your own’ breakdown of the device in the near future via the talesofthings.com site. The Oxfam store is also home to a Bluetooth ‘wand’ which works with Android phones. These devices bring the Internet of Things to life allowing all the objects catalogued with talesofthings.com to connect to any online media. The Oxfam Shop has been taking donations of all shapes and sizes that have been tagged with memories as part of the in-store exhibition.

The movie below shows some of our ‘internet of things’ tech running and the memories of past objects:

Thanks go to the whole TOTeM team with notable thanks to Benjamin Blundell, Duncan Shingleton and Martin de Jode for developing the technology and getting everything working.

You can of course tag anything and indeed everything yourself via http://www.talesofthings.com

The post iPhone RFID and Bluetooth AudioBoos in Oxfam Clip appeared first on Digital Urban.

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.

TOTeM has created a new iPhone RFID reader especially for this piece Using a jailbroken phone and off the shelf circuits, the reader can replay memories by simply ‘swiping’ near the object. The team plan to release a ‘how to make your own’ breakdown of the device in the near future via the talesofthings.com site. The Oxfam store is also home to a Bluetooth ‘wand’ which works with Android phones. These devices bring the Internet of Things to life allowing all the objects catalogued with talesofthings.com to connect to any online media. The Oxfam Shop has been taking donations of all shapes and sizes that have been tagged with memories as part of the in-store exhibition.

The movie below shows some of our ‘internet of things’ tech running and the memories of past objects:

Thanks go to the whole TOTeM team with notable thanks to Benjamin Blundell, Duncan Shingleton and Martin de Jode for developing the technology and getting everything working.

You can of course tag anything and indeed everything yourself via http://www.talesofthings.com

The post iPhone RFID and Bluetooth AudioBoos in Oxfam Clip appeared first on Digital Urban.

Once tagged each object basically gets its own webpage allowing comments to be placed, new media added such as YouTube clips, Audioboo, Vimeo etc and new tales tagged to the codes.

An interesting take on this is that once these tags are placed in the wild and scanned with the free iPhone app they become read/writable and therefore location aware. As such any object you tag with the site can ‘Tweet’ each time it is scanned. If you tag a landmark for example, each time that tag is read you can get a tweet that says ‘Hey, I’ve just been scanned’. Once scanned new tales or comments can be added to that tag, creating a social network of ‘things’ and ‘locations’.

We are working on ways to make the objects more location aware and aware of near by objects, it could be interesting over the next few months to see how this develops. You can see all the things added to far on the ‘world of things map’:

You can start tagging anything and everything via talesofthings.com

The post Making ‘Objects’ Tweet appeared first on Digital Urban.

More and more technologies are being developed to be ‘tagged’ to a person or object so that information about them can be recorded on a remote data base and read by third parties. This technology has the potential to influence all of our lives. Some applications appear harmless enough – such as the bar codes on products in shops – but others are raising concerns about privacy and surveillance. How do you feel about councils tagging wheelie bins in order to monitor what people are throwing out, for example? Or about the planned national identity cards? Yet other potential uses of tagging technology seem exciting. What if you could tag every object in your house so that you would never lose something ever again? Or if you could attach a memory to objects so that their stories are passed down through family generations? Maybe such developments could provide much needed help to people suffering from memory loss, increase our awareness of our own history or enhance our experiences of museums and galleries.

What’s in it for you?
Are you worried about tagging technologies or excited about future possible applications? Or do you simply want to find out more about the technology and/or possible implications? Whether you are someone who might benefit from tagging technology or want to find effective ways to protect privacy with the technology or are involved in developing new applications or just plain interested – we invite you to participate in a public event on the subject on Monday 10 May in Edinburgh.

The event will take the form of an interactive workshop, and include a technical demonstration of one type of tagging technology, called RFID, plus a film about possible dangers associated with it. This is an opportunity not only to find out more about the technology and consider what wider implications there may be; it is also a rare opportunity to shape the technology in some modest way – by contributing to the debate about possible problems and to opening up ideas about possible future developments.

Who is organising the event?
The event has been organised by TOTeM – the people behind the site http://www.talesofthings.com which you may of noticed mentioned here on digital urban recently. Through this event we want to better understand how diverse groups view technologies like RFID, and to encourage constructive criticism and ideas for future developments. This will help inform our research, and form the basis of a publication on public perceptions of new tagging technology.

We would also like to thank John Welford from NO2ID Edinburgh for his guidance on privacy and surveillance issues. NO2ID Edinburgh is one of many local groups across the UK campaigning against the introduction of compulsory ID cards and a National Identity Register.

Places are free but limited so if you would like to come please contact Jane Macdonald: Tel: 0131 221 6187 or email jane.macdonald@eca.ac.uk

We would love to get conversations going in the lead up to the event and after so if you have any initial feedback on the topic or indeed on the event itself then please do visit our blog http://rfidevent.wordpress.com/

The post Tagging technology – is the future bright? appeared first on Digital Urban.

Any object, any media, geolocated with the ability to read/write – what will you tag? Going to FutureEverything? TalesofThings are there as a featured artist.

TalesofThings – its a memory thing, you can follow developments on Twitter…

The post QR Code / RFID / Any Media – The TalesofThings Trailer appeared first on Digital Urban.