Here at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, NFC is a very big deal. So much so that they have created a whole special mechanism for entering the venue based on NFC, which lives alongside the main entrance lanes that are often jammed with attendees. It is called the “NFC Badge” and it works like this:
- In advance of the event, you log on to the Mobile World Congress site and opt-in for the NFC Badge program once you’ve registered to attend. You are asked to upload a headshot of yourself to the website.
- You then download the “NFC Badge” app to your phone.
- When you arrive on the first day, you go to a special desk and show the app to someone who validates that the picture matches you. Within the app, the little icon next to your headshot turns into a green checkmark.
- When you go to enter the Fira Gran Via, you veer to the right away from the long lines of people having their regular badges and photo IDs checked.
- You open the NFC Badge app and tap the special reader they have set up.
- On a little screen above the reader, it confirms your face and you proceed into the conference
It’s worked out pretty well so far, and is an interesting practical (and non-payment) use case for NFC.
