OUTPUT

With the surge of digital signage seeming to go hand in hand with social media and online communications, printers of static displays may be forgiven for assuming they can't keep up with the modern requirement for a constant turnover of information and immediate receipt of services. But, according to some sources, near field communication (NFC) technology is likely to become so ubiquitous over the next months and years that wide-format printers should feel like they have a role to play.

Posterscope, which is among the companies rolling out NFC for marketing purposes, explains that the technology involves chips being implanted in posters, which allow users of NFC-enabled phones to connect via 3G to online content when they hold their phones in the vicinity of the chip for a few moments. A message will pop up automatically on the phone asking if the user wants to open the relevant web link or app, without having to launch an application beforehand. When the user selects 'yes', the content will open. Posterscope was involved in a campaign earlier this year for the film X-Men: First Class for example, which gave fans immediate access to the latest trailer, made specifically for the purpose.

The speed of NFC also has the potential for shopping transactions; indeed, it is the basis for Barclaycard's contactless payment system. While still relatively slow moving in the UK, the fact that Google has launched a new NFC mobile phone app called Google Wallet this week and other big names are involved in similar initiatives certainly suggests that the world economy at large is catching on. Barclaycard's system has a spending limit of £15, essentially for security reasons, but it's likely that this will be raised to allow multiple transactions. In theory, NFC could be combined with scan-as-you-shop services in the vein of Waitrose's Quick Check, which has to be good news for producers of shelf-edge and POS displays. It's also been mooted that NFC could easily be applied to Oyster cards, used on the London Underground, and has even been proven to work with door locks.

NFC is often promoted for its ability to improve shoppers' experience and loyalty to a brand through greater interaction, and companies like 3GTV are keen to expand digital signage networks with NFC for this reason. But this can go further by allowing basic accessibility to consumers: French supermarket chain Casino is currently carrying out research to ascertain how NFC can help its physically disabled, blind and partially sighted customers by transmitting product information to their phones.

NFC is in many ways similar to quick response (QR) codes – those little black and white pixelated boxes appearing on all sorts of printed and on-screen material. Both allow people to receive information directly to their phone handsets, and even purchase goods or services, but NFC seems to be leading in this latter field. This is partly down to the speedy 3G connection that enables faster transactions than the multi-step QR code access. Additionally, recent research by VIGC has found that poorly printed QR codes cannot be read by older smartphones, and even newer models have problems. The length of the URL to be included can compound this, as the longer the address, the more information that needs to be printed inside the little box and the clearer it must be.

The addition of QR codes to displays is a cheaper option than NFC chips – Fastsigns has recently launched a QR code and linked website package for under £200 – and is therefore likely to stick around for a while yet, however. There is also an environmental issue in that while posters sporting printed QR codes can be recycled like any normal paper display, this does not apply to those with NFC chips – which are soon expected to be outside the domain of big companies with corporate responsibility concerns.

Despite all the ongoing projects and research into NFC, there are some who suspect it may be a fad. Bankers' plans to abolish cheques were overturned this year, suggesting people aren't keen on losing traditional methods of payment, while not everyone owns a smartphone or has plans to buy one. On the other hand, online shopping and supermarket self-checkouts are still on the increase, implying the public is not averse automating their daily lives. Time will tell, but it will be in display producers' best interests to be prepared.