The NFC Forum and The SmartTouch Project have announced the
winners of the NFC competition, “Touching the Future”. Focusing
on “The Simplicity of a Touch,” 50 submissions from 13 countries were
submitted and 10 winners were selected from 21 finalists. With two
tracks, an A and a B track, winners were selected based on the
innovation, commercial potential and usability. The Track A winner,
determined with regard to demonstrated process, service
improvements and cost savings solution, is an application called
“iO TouchPro”. This solution automates the process of recording and
transmitting patient services provided by homecare workers using an
NFC-enabled Nokia 3220 mobile phone and Nedap’s iO software.
Track B proposals were evaluated on on creativity, innovation, and
business potential with first place given to “Seeingeyephone” from
Technical Research Center of Finland VTT. This application was
designed to assist the visually impaired while shopping for groceries.The
competition was founded by Nokia in partnership with the SmartTouch
project, and sponsored by the NFC Forum for the promotion of
innovation in NFC service implementations.
