Implementing Physical Hyperlinks for Mobile Applications Using RFID Tags

Hyperlinks are a well understood and widely used concept in many applications. Particularly the Web has promoted the concept of "clickable " links to users. Typically, hyperlinks are only used to interact with applications and content in the "virtual" sphere of information systems. However, the basic idea of a hyperlink, which is creating an inviolable link between two resources, can be extended to the physical world as well and then allows a much closer and more intuitive interaction with information systems in many scenarios. We describe how RFID tags can be used to implement physical hyperlinks that establish a direct connection between a physical object and a mobile information system. Any kind of mobile, object-centered information system, such as the PDA-based visitor information system for museums MoVIS presented in this paper, provides a richer experience for users when it is extended into the physical world with physical hyperlinks.