ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
*****************************************************************************

Hello,

As Beryl mentioned, The Tech Museum uses RFID tracking throughout the
museum.  It evolved from bracelets to wristband tags, given to every visitor
(over 400,000/yr).  This was the result of several years of research by our
Tech Department to reach a viable price point (contact: Mike Drennan).

The RFID tags allow visitors to save snapshots that can be viewed later on
the web.  These snapshots are in the form of photo opportunities, virtual
creations from exhibits such as Design a Bicycle, and in the Wet Lab, the
results of your genetic experiment.

In the case of the latter, the RFID tags were crucial in allowing visitors
to see the results of bacterial experiments that took overnight to incubate.
Using RFID tags, we were able to automate the process of taking hundreds of
photos per day of nutrient plates and posting them to visitors' unique RFID
websites. You can see the results from a visitor's plate of bacteria
producing glowing fluorescent protein (GFP):

http://tinyurl.com/cd3lyl
http://tinyurl.com/d4d45x

In addition, the RFID bracelets allowed us to track the number of visitors
to each RFID exhibit, as well as the path they took from exhibit to exhibit.

Overall, I think the main challenge of implementing an RFID system is
finding enough exhibit opportunities to support a complete overhaul of one's
museum admissions. And being dedicated to a threshold number of RFID
exhibits that allow visitors to get used to swiping their RFID tag to begin
an exhibit.  

For small installations of just a few exhibits, I would probably recommend
printable bar codes.  They're familiar to use, and cheap.

-Eric

*****************************************
Eric Yuan
Exhibit Developer
Children’s Museum of New Hampshire
6 Washington St
Dover, NH 03820
(603) 742-2002
www.childrens-museum.org
*****************************************




-----Original Message-----
From: Informal Science Education Network
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Beryl Rosenthal
Sent: Wednesday, April 29, 2009 1:57 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [ISEN] Visitor tracking with RFID

ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related
institutions.
****************************************************************************
*

I believe The Tech in San Diego, California did a tracking project with
bracelets.  
Beryl

-----Original Message-----
>From: "phaeno Wolfsburg, Alexandra Schautz" <[log in to unmask]>
>Sent: Apr 29, 2009 11:31 AM
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Visitor tracking with RFID
>
>ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
>Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related
institutions.
>***************************************************************************
**
>
>Hi everyone,
>
> 
>
>I am currently working on a PhD proposal for a visitor evaluation study
>in our Science Center Phaeno in Germany. For my project I need to track
>visitors – where they walk, how much time they spend at one exhibit etc.
>Since there a lots of new things out there to facilitate data collection
>I was wondering whether one of your institutions has any experience with
>RFID technology (Radio Frequency Identification). The idea would be to
>have the visitors tagged (of course with their permission) to follow
>their way within one part of our exhibition floor.
>
>Any help or suggestions will be appreciated!
>
> 
>
>Thanks for your help,
>
>Alexandra
>
> 
>
>___________________________________________
>
>Alexandra Schautz
>phæno gGmbH
>Willy-Brandt-Platz 1
>38440 Wolfsburg
>
>
>[log in to unmask]
>
>www.phaeno.de
>
>
>
>***********************************************************************
>For information about the Association of Science-Technology Centers and the
Informal Science Education Network please visit www.astc.org.
>
>Check out the latest case studies and reviews on ExhibitFiles at
www.exhibitfiles.org.
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For information about the Association of Science-Technology Centers and the Informal Science Education Network please visit www.astc.org.

Check out the latest case studies and reviews on ExhibitFiles at www.exhibitfiles.org.

The ISEN-ASTC-L email list is powered by LISTSERVR software from L-Soft. To learn more, visit
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