RememberMe, the project we did back in May in an Oxfam Shop in Manchester is still getting press, proving that there definitely is potential for charity shops to integrate this system into their stores. If attaching memories to our old objects can increase the social and monetary value of the things we no longer want surely this is a great case for helping our struggling charity shops. You can listen to a radio interview with Emma Cooney (Oxfam) and Chris Speed (ECA) on PRI’s The World here, interview by Ari Daniel Shapiro.
Way back in May 2010, we ran a workshop to explore the publics apprehension for tagging technologies. It was very successful and provided insights in to the fears and concerns around RFID and the tagging of objects and people. The day was organised in such a way as to allow participants to take part in semi-structured discussions that were interspersed by presentations and demonstrations to further inform debate. Debate was complex and opinions upon the benefits and threats for tagging became more subtle throughout the workshop, with individuals views swinging dramatically from blind enthusiasm to extreme paranoia.
Since then the workshop was documented and written up to create a 66 page book on the outcomes of the workshop.
You can download a PDF copy here first, whilst we go off to blurb.com and print some for ourselves!
After being mentioned in Mashable’s Spark of Genius page yesterday (which has been tweeted 1,116 times so far!) we are now on the Killer Start Ups page, you can vote for your favourite (that’s us of course!) by clicking link below. Thanks.
The Tales of Things project is located within the emerging technical and cultural phenomenon known as ‘The Internet of Things’. The term is attributed to the Auto-ID research group at MIT in 1999, and was explored in depth by the International Telecommunication Union who published a report bearing the same name at the United Nations net summit in 2005. The term, ‘Internet of things’, refers to the technical and cultural shift that is anticipated as society moves towards a ubiquitous form of computing in which every device is ‘on’, and every device is connected in some way to the Internet.
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:
Every time anyone adds an object to talesofthings our unit starts its morse code welcome, in a small way its a step towards things talking to things, we are working on our own protocols behind the scenes to take this further so all the objects are aware of the other objects.
An estate agent in Didsbury, Manchester is using tales of things to creatively market its properties. Gascgoigne Halman has placed QR codes/barcodes on its properties to allow buyers to see inside the property without actually having to set foot in the house before making the commitment to view.
With the housing market slowing down recently estate agents are looking for new ways to engage with customers and offer something different. The branch manager for Gascgoigne Halman in Didsbury, Nick Mosley said the reason he had chosen to take part, “is that there have been a great number of developments with technologies related to Estate Agents in recent years, such as Google Maps and iPhone apps. Any technology that can give an edge over the competitor is extremely important”.
Gascgoigne Halman currently has QR codes alongside property displays in their shop windows. In order to take part potential buyers simply download our free “talesofthings” app to their iPhone or Android and when you spot a code on a shop window or for sale sign scan the code to reveal the full property schedule and additional images. At the moment this is being run as a pilot project with a focus on the shop window so that if the branch is closed customers can still find out more information about the property. The aim will be to also have these codes on for sale boards in the future and next week the codes will feature in a local newspaper advert for the estate agent.
This project is being run by our team at the Univeristy of Salford and forms the first of our business case studies with more to follow throughout the year.
The TOTeM team worked closely with Uxbridge Library, West London, this month to record stories about all ‘things’ Hillingdon. Objects included a rolling pin, a grand piano, a family photograph, an oil painting, a Davy lamp, a China dog, a dictionary, several biscuit tins, a teddy bear, a Toby jug, and many more. We were mainly interested in residents’ personal objects but also got chatting about local monuments and even the changing history of London’s cinema landscape! We have set up a group dedicated to Tales of Hillingdon on www.talesofthings.com. While we populate the group with the videos recorded in Uxbridge last week, we invite anyone with an interest in the area to add their own object stories. TOTeM returns to Uxbridge Library in September to screen some of the tales we recorded, and of course to gather more…
tales of things now has the ability to allow users to create their own “groups” on the website. This will make it easier for you to search and connect to specific interest groups, so start your own group today!
Shoreditch High Street has now been tagged with QR codes as part of the London Festival of Architecture. Be sure to make your way down to develop a personal history tour of the street. We are looking for stories about the buildings themselves, or shops, bars etc, why you like going there or a memory of a good/bad experience. For a full list of locations visit http://www.youtotem.com/talesofthecity of if you don’t live in the area you can still add your story by going to the talesofthings website and searching for “talesofthecity” or London Festival of Architecture.
We will be taking part in this year’s London Festival of Architecture 19 June to 4 July 2010, so if you are in the Shoreditch area be sure to pop down and see us! The project is called Tales of the City- Tagging Shoreditch and Beyond and extends the talesofthings concept into the urban realm with the architecture of the city able to replay memories and its history.
The project will enable participants to add their own tales to buildings and view stories that other people have left. Already we have tagged Broadcasting House in Portland Place and a wall in Chalk Farm which when scanned replays how the wall used to look with a Banksy Stencil in place. 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. It would be great if people did also use the talesofthings website to print out their own QR codes too if you didn’t like the buildings we have chosen!
More info on the Festival itself can be found here
This is the blog site for the TOTeM project. TOTeM is a Digital Economy research project to explore social memory in the emerging culture of the Internet of Things. This term is used to describe the increasingly popular use of tagging technologies to track physical objects in the real world.
You may be familiar with our public tagging site which is the focus of our work: www.talesofthings.com
RememberMe, the project we did back in May in an Oxfam Shop in Manchester is still getting press, proving that there definitely is potential for charity shops to integrate this system into their stores. If attaching memories to our old objects can increase the social and monetary value of the things we no longer want surely this is a great case for helping our struggling charity shops. You can listen to a radio interview with Emma Cooney (Oxfam) and Chris Speed (ECA) on PRI’s The World here, interview by Ari Daniel Shapiro.
d closely with Uxbridge Library, West London, this month to record stories about all ‘things’ Hillingdon. Objects included a rolling pin, a grand piano, a family photograph, an oil painting, a Davy lamp, a China dog, a dictionary, several biscuit tins, a teddy bear, a Toby jug, and many more. We were mainly interested in residents’ personal objects but also got chatting about local monuments and even the changing history of London’s cinema landscape! We have set up a group dedicated to Tales of Hillingdon on 
Shoreditch High Street has now been tagged with QR codes as part of the London Festival of Architecture. Be sure to make your way down to develop a personal history tour of the street. We are looking for stories about the buildings themselves, or shops, bars etc, why you like going there or a memory of a good/bad experience. For a full list of locations visit 