Interactions Patterns in NFC Interfaces for Applications and Services

Abstract

Abstract. Near Field Communication (NFC) technologies are normally used to establish radio communication between two NFC compatible devices by touching them together or bringing them together less than four centimeters. Nowadays, the interface of a large range of business and consumer applications are based on such technologies. In this paper, we propose a model to identify human-system interaction patterns that occur when NFC enabled devices are employed. Moreover, we show the applicability of such a model through an analysis of a relevant number of real world cases of applications and services which have currently arisen in many business streams. The study is aimed to categorize current NFC interfaces and to explore their underneath value.Keywords: NFC, interaction pattern, mobile service, human-system interaction. IntroductionThe term "Near Field Communication" (shortly, NFC) is used to refer to a short range wireless communication technology that is derived from Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) and enables communication between two NFC enabled devices within few centimeters. It is based on an integrated circuit chip in a card, or any other form factor device. More precisely, NFC devices (e.g. a contactless card and a mobile phone) can communicate with each other when they are less than four centimeters nearby. NFC technology is usually employed to provide applications with NFC interfaces (shortly, NFC apps) that are:• RFID compatible. They ensure interaction with existing RFID infrastructures;• Usable. They can be easily used to make an application run, without requiring any particular technical knowledge of NFC devices (a communication starts by bringing two devices together, and it is cut by separating two devices), [1]; • Secure. Security measures can be built into NFC technology in order to establish a NFC secure channel for confidentiality, integrity and authenticity of the data transferred between devices. This would protect against eavesdropping, data corruption, data modification, and man-in-middle attacks, [2]; • Convenient. They can advantageously assist people to perform every day actions, especially in searching for information . Many useful information (e.g. location-relevant map, transport timetables, special discounted product/service offers, etc.) can be more easily accessed through an NFC interface rather than using conventional human computer interface.

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