Taking a Touching Approach to Transport Ticketing and Home Care for the Elderly From: EUREKA - 10/27/2009 By: Tuomo Tuikka The EUREKA ITEA software Cluster SmartTouch project used near-field communications (NFC) technologies to provide easy-to-use touch-based interactive mobile services, such as paying transportation fares or choosing a meal through a touch-based mobile device. The project has developed a service platform for a variety of uses, including accessing and controlling home entertainment and caring for the elderly. The ITEA project united a number of technology and service providers, researchers, and commercial companies to explore how NFC technology can be applied to commercial products. The project incorporated protocols, enablers, applications, security, and privacy, and created an inexpensive and open solution with no gateway requiring complex configurations. The ITEA consortium enabled participating companies to update their product portfolios with NFC technology, and a variety of commercial products and services are already being marketed as a direct result of the project, including a touch-based menu for ordering food; smart systems for paying for transportation, cinema tickets, and sporting events; and systems to enable the elderly to use electronics in the home. Read the entire article at: http://www.eureka.be/inaction/viewSuccessStory.do?docid=9026187 Links: SmartTouch http://ttuki.vtt.fi/smarttouch/www/?info=intro Taking a touching approach to mobile service access http://www.itea2.org/attachments/538/innovation_report_SmartTouch.pdf