NFC COMPLIANT

FEATURE NAME ADA/WAYFINDING

BY AUTHOR BY JEFF WOOTEN

NFC COMPLIANT

NFC is enhancing ADA and wayfinding.

When it comes to digital sign technology in the area of wayfinding and ADA, one of the key components you’ll hear about is NFC, which stands for “Near Field Communication.” The state-of-the-art “magic” that propels this technology is actually tiny, thin microchips embedded into the signage that communicate with smartphones and tablets and, in turn, create an expanded interactive experience for users.

Adaptive Signage is a custom design and manufacturing firm in Port Chester, New York. The company has already been using 3D UV print systems for the past couple of years to produce wayfinding and ADA signage for their clients, and now they’ve developed Smart Signage, an NFC-oriented product that gives their customers both an entirely new way to look at their signs and the ability to analyze their performance analytics.

The concept behind Smart Sign technology is simple: Users hover their smartphone over a specially printed NFC-enabled QR Code featured on the sign (a plaque, a panel, etc.), and their device will then either play audio and/or video, open a Web page, make a direct phone call, connect to Wi-Fi, download promo codes, follow a brand on social media, etc.

According to Joe Lanza, president of Adaptive Signage, NFC is about creating a digital experience through physical signage. He has found that real estate is an ideal market for Smart Sign technology, particularly with developers and realtors.

“Imagine you have various units for sale, and each one has a Smart Sign either outside the door or on your display signage,” he says. “Potential clients can scan it to either auto dial the sales rep, play a video of the rentable space, look at a floor plan or sales sheet, or fill out and send a form for further information.”

Lanza says they’ve also worked with

clients in the food and beverage industry placing pre-programmed Smart Sign chips into display signage found on tabletops. In healthcare settings, patients are scanning them to fill out and return forms via their smartphones.

Meanwhile small business owners can employ Smart Sign to offer additional information or strategic discounts to customers. “Simplifying the data and using it to inform is something small business owners don’t have the bandwidth to do without help of some kind,” says Lanza. “This technology can help small business owners do this and market themselves better.”

One of Adaptive Signage’s popular Smart Sign products is their “Safe Entry” sign that’s often used at hair salon entries and is especially attractive in today’s pandemic environment. “Hair salons use this sign to check clients in and avoid paperwork,” says Lanza. “Patrons use their phone to scan the QR Code and fill out the CDC-type form. They can then be contacted automatically if there’s an outbreak. The system does the contact tracing, sends an exposure notification, and has a liability waiver as well, which salon owners love.”

Elsewhere across the country, another company is also some doing interesting things using NFC and digital signage technology.

Boyd Sign Systems of Englewood, Colorado has been in business for thirtyone years now working on architectural and ADA signage for the hotel, casino, and resort markets. However, for the past fifteen years (and thanks to their relationship with nearby digital sign software company Four Winds® Interactive), they’ve diversified into making structures and housings for digital sign enclosures and kiosks; in fact, this segment accounts for 30 to 40 percent of their business today.

The sign company has created raised tactile and Braille sign systems incorporating electronic and digital components in many of the hotels and casinos in Las Vegas. One such project was for the Mandarin Five-Star Oriental Hotel, which is now the beautiful Waldorf Astoria Hotel and Residence. This property has 392 guest rooms and 225 residences (including 55 suites and 3 presidential suites).

The signage provided by Boyd Sign Systems outside the guestrooms incorporate a lighted doorbell, a housekeeping request, and a “Do Not Disturb” function all controlled from inside the room via iPads already placed there (a state-of-the-art upgrade from the “archaic” door handle signs).

These electronic-infused sensor signs also signal housekeeping when there’s a need to pick up food trays. “There’s a tray sensor built into the sign,” says Jim deRoin, vice president of Strategic Planning at Boyd Sign Systems. “When someone puts the tray outside their room, the sensor detects it sitting there and signals housekeeping, which then starts a timer. Management can then tell how long it took housekeeping to get there.”

One solution they’ve worked with for higher-end hotels is integrating a fiveinch-diagonal digital screen into the actual tactile room identity sign outside the door. “Management can program and display welcoming messages, happy hour promotions, and on-property event details on the screen,” says Marc Pokorny, account executive at Boyd Sign Systems.

While hospitality dominates a majority of their NFC digital signage projects, Boyd Sign Systems has also installed them in museums, higher education settings, and healthcare facilities. Pokorny says that NFC signage is best suited for new constructions where it’s easier to run a CAT6 data cable, since these small displays are powered over the Ethernet.

According to deRoin, NFC technology is proving popular nowadays for wayfinding since a lot of overhead directionals in hotels have already made the transition to digital. “For instance, you’ve got a limited amount of space on that overhead directional to guide people through your property, and if you wanted to make as much profit as you possibly can, management can program a hierarchy of messages,” he says. “It can be programmed so that visitors and guests can see a Starbucks ad on the digital screen in the morning and then a happy hour message for a bar and grill on the same screen during the afternoon and evening hours.”

The QR Code-smartphone connection is a big draw with NFC technology, and Pokorny says this solution is attractive to people who are leery today of using interactive touchscreens or kiosks. “While I strongly feel that touch interactivity is coming back and not going away, tying QR Codes to smartphones allows users to still use digital signage on their devices instead of physically having to touch them to navigate,” he says. “Another solution is mounting hand sanitizer brackets within reach on the side of the touchscreen or enclosure.”

Boyd Sign Systems also works a lot with ADA, doing a lot of combination signs using Nova Polymers photopolymer panels, working with the manufacturer for twenty years now. When it comes to digital signage in the ADA field, Pokorny stresses that this technology constitutes a very gray area in the 2010 ADA Accessibility, as it’s really not defined specifically. When it comes to talking about ADA and digital screens, Pokorny says it’s mainly associated with ATM-type machines that dispense money or information where

Digital signs can be strategically programed to feature content and messaging that is relevant to the user based on the time of day.

tactile Braille is featured on keypads.

“We make a lot of kiosks that have tactile Braille on it, and to work within the placement guidelines, kiosks have to go in a certain place,” says Pokorny. “We fight constantly with properties trying to get the piece to the correct side of the door and at a place where people can actually use the screen function in a proper manner while being ADA-compliant for the tactile portion.”

Pokorny says the best example of the ADA-digital sign blend in their world can be found next to doors at hotel conference rooms or meeting spaces.

“The screen with the digital information is mounted sixty inches oncenter above the finished floor. Then our enclosure would physically have the Braille tactile copy on the cover mounted directly below the screen, which puts that into the forty-eight- to sixty-inch range above the finished floor,” says Pokorny. “That kind of kills two birds with one stone—you don’t need a secondary plaque just for ADA compliance.”

According to Lanza, their NFC-enabled Smart Sign falls under the specifications of ADA compliance. “The opportunity here is adding benefits to ADA signage in situations where you need to inform beyond the sign,” he says. “One of our clients uses Smart Sign for ADA purposes to further inform patients of the many other services that their medical facility offers. Others simply use the chips to offer presentations about their companies or exhibits.”

Noticing how smartphones have proven a real game changer in day-today life, Pokorny thinks this could have an impact on ADA for the visually impaired down the road.

“It’s a matter of time before someone puts together an application or software where you can just drop your floor plan into it and program every square inch of one’s property so that somebody can have their smartphone navigating them through their headphones without the need for an ADA sign to get them through the door.

“That’s a bit of speculation, but I don’t think it’s far-fetched.”

Near Field Communication (NFC) technology that’s embedded into signage is all about providing an expanded interactive experience for the user.

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