I’ve recently started playing with NFC tags for automation, and the possibilities are as vast as your imagination. I’ve only just begun to scratch the surface, but already I can see the potential.
I suffer from IBD and as such my doctor(s) will often want to know how my symptoms have been, if any particular patterns persist too long, etc. Perhaps naturally, the first automation I built was to log the occurrence of specific symptoms. I programmed ‘shortcuts’ in my iphone to log said symptom whenever I scan a particular NFC sticker which is discretely hidden near the porcelain throne. Next was another sticker adhered to the refrigerator to log every time I refill my 40 oz “bubba” water jug, allowing me to look back over the day and make sure I’ve kept up with my intake goals. I may like to to try expanding on either or both of these, perhaps an automation that notifies me if I’m falling behind on water intake by a certain time of day…
I’ve started to research other methods to take advantage of NFC tags – IFTTT is one of the most popular services, though I’ve also found voicemonkey.io, extending the functionality between IFTTT and alexa voice assistant. I also use Home Assistant as the local engine for automation. Its free, open source software (FOSS) that can be run on a raspberry pi, old PC, etc and can communicate through add-on hardware like zwave, zigbee, bluetooth, etc to control internet of things (IOT) devices.
I started with a pack of cheap nfc stickers from amazon which serve the purpose of letting me learn, but one of the first lessons I learned was that they are very picky about where they are mounted. NFC tags are cool in that they do not contain any battery or power of their own, rather are powered or ‘excited’ by the reading device (phone/badge reader, etc). Cheap stickers don’t like being mounted on metal because it interferes with their ability to resonate at the proper frequency and be read properly. Other options are available for different mounting applications. I’m still researching options to possibly add to say, a pets collar – to offer another means to contact us should we be come separated. Our pups are all microchipped, which is a type of radio frequency identification (RFID) similar to NFC, but generally can only be read by vets, animal control, etc. An NFC tag could be read by just about anyone with a smart phone.
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