J
Justin Brown
Guest
I am working on a graduate student project potentially involving NFC and/or Bluetooth BLE technology. Details as follows:
Main idea: Create an onsite donation system to replace physical cash donation boxes, using mobile payment technology.
Example use case and user flow:
1) We'd set up one of our "boxes" in a local or regional park, or indoor space (where connectivity isn't an issue).
2) Users would have our app installed (a platform that charities/nonprofits would use).
3) User would see our physical "box", along with a call to action.
4) User would put phone on top of box, which would send info to the app, either via NFC or BLE (not sure which is better), which organization the donation is going to, along with some sort of message.
5) For the fun/experiential part: user could swipe up on phone in the app to donate 1 dollar at a time. App would prompt user to confirm total donation amount.
6) Once user has confirmed donation, the physical "box" responds with a confirmation, either via LED lights lighting up, some sort of sound, or some other sensory stimuli.
The piece I'm most unsure about tech-wise, is Step 6. My main question is, is there any way for the user's phone in this case to transmit a signal BACK to the NFC tag in the physical box after the donation is complete, which the tag could then take and somehow use to activate lights, a sound, etc.? From what I've gathered in my research thus far it seems like NFC is a cheap/easy way to handle the first part of the experience, where an NFC tag could be programmed to open the app and let it know of the box's location, but I'm not sure how to then have the app send a "donation confirmed" message back to the box to then trigger the sensory response. I've been reading up on NFC tech and Bluetooth beacon technology but it's been a bit confusing and tough to find an analogous use case.
Any insights/pointers here would be very much appreciated. Thank you!
Main idea: Create an onsite donation system to replace physical cash donation boxes, using mobile payment technology.
Example use case and user flow:
1) We'd set up one of our "boxes" in a local or regional park, or indoor space (where connectivity isn't an issue).
2) Users would have our app installed (a platform that charities/nonprofits would use).
3) User would see our physical "box", along with a call to action.
4) User would put phone on top of box, which would send info to the app, either via NFC or BLE (not sure which is better), which organization the donation is going to, along with some sort of message.
5) For the fun/experiential part: user could swipe up on phone in the app to donate 1 dollar at a time. App would prompt user to confirm total donation amount.
6) Once user has confirmed donation, the physical "box" responds with a confirmation, either via LED lights lighting up, some sort of sound, or some other sensory stimuli.
The piece I'm most unsure about tech-wise, is Step 6. My main question is, is there any way for the user's phone in this case to transmit a signal BACK to the NFC tag in the physical box after the donation is complete, which the tag could then take and somehow use to activate lights, a sound, etc.? From what I've gathered in my research thus far it seems like NFC is a cheap/easy way to handle the first part of the experience, where an NFC tag could be programmed to open the app and let it know of the box's location, but I'm not sure how to then have the app send a "donation confirmed" message back to the box to then trigger the sensory response. I've been reading up on NFC tech and Bluetooth beacon technology but it's been a bit confusing and tough to find an analogous use case.
Any insights/pointers here would be very much appreciated. Thank you!