NFC embedded handle grips arriving at Tokyo subways

Is NFC technology catching on in a big way? That remains to be seen, but it seems that Japan tends to be at the forefront of technology most of the times, and this time around, we have seen Shunkosha introduce an FeliCa NFC enabled strap as part of the transit advertising medium. From May 21st onwards, ads from HIS (a travel agency) have started appearing at the Tokyo Ginza and Marunouchi subway lines. Touted as an integrated FeliCa reader for passengers, it will be able to let compatible phones to retrieve the embedded URL in a jiffy, leading them to an advertising-related site. Good to know that your personal information is not acquired, so security should not be an issue here.

It seems that it is pretty difficult to measure the effect that transport advertising receives, so to make it all the more interactive, it would be interesting to pique the curiousity of passengers on Tokyo subways. Unique, don’t you think so? Perhaps we will be able to see more of such advertising ideas appear in the West when NFC becomes more and more mainstream.