One Fun Way to Explore the Expo Floor (and Win Prizes!)

[Maegan]

This year at the NIWeek Community Block Diagram party, six teams joined the mobile barcode scavenger hunt racing to win prizes, and ultimately an Xbox 360. They used the Microsoft Tag reader to scan Microsoft Tags hidden at eight different demos in the exhibition hall. The aim was engage the NIWeek Community, provide a fun way to explore the expo floor, and, of course, to have fun.

At NIWeek 2009, the NIWeek Community had a Twitter scavenger hunt. Since we have seen rising interest in mobile barcodes, we decided to use the technology this year. After testing different mobile barcode readers, we chose Microsoft Tag because it was a free service that provided the same quality as many paid mobile barcode reader technology. It provided both an easy-to-use tag generator and manager, while its reader was supported by a wide variety of smart phones. Additionally, the barcode manager was capable of generating free text when the code was scanned. This saved us time and resources that would have been necessary to create multiple mobile landing pages.

To organize the scavenger hunt, we started by picking interesting demos and contacted the demo owners for details. We used the information we gathered to write science fiction movie-themed clues. The first clue, “Why bother with precogs when NI RIO technology can help you ‘see’ how to win?” led to the Hockey Puck Tracking with NI FlexRIO. We also prepared hints that were available to the participants five minutes after unsuccessfully trying to solve the first clue. We used the free text option in the Microsoft Tag manager for our clues and hints.

The NIWeek Mobile Barcode Scavenger Hunt was successful, with the teams able to scan all the clues. The report function of the Microsoft Tag manager helped us determine this, as not all the participants returned to the meeting point after the first place winner was announced.

The winner of the first NIWeek Mobile Barcode Scavenger Hunt and a new Xbox 360 was a team consisting of Steven Polansky of Rennselaer Polytechnic Institute, Ron Truong of UC San Diego, and Aubrey Sewell of Texas A&M.

Everyone that participated, organizers and players alike, enjoyed this fun application of mobile barcodes – technology that fit right into the cutting-edge innovations at the conference.

Watch this video to see highlights of the scavenger hunt: