I may not be the biggest fan of e-book reader technology, still preferring my hardbacks to the plastic alternative; however I still end up using my phone or tablet as a dictionary or reference guide sometimes. Nonetheless I love to read and innovations in this field always get my attention. Today it’s news from Japan – they’ve just introduced a new city library that’s equipped with NFC tags for a quick glance at the books on the shelves. The Saitama Prefecture in Hanno, only recently opened, is using technology from Kariru Fujitsu and marketing to allow members to quickly browse through selections with a swipe of their NFC enabled smartphone via tags or “Tatchitagu” that are located on the shelves.


The “Tatchitagu” are equipped with all kinds of interesting facets like Wikipedia links about the books or authors and even access to the National Diet Library when required. Aside from these one could also reserve books they wish to read later. So far the library is loaded with about 100 such NFC tags but they aim to double that quickly. This Fujitsu system is aimed at about 500 libraries across the country creating a new era of cloud access for the voracious readers. Readers will also able to rate the books they read, review them and even leave useful comments for those that come later. The days of conventional libraries is quickly passing us by as the digital age slowly but surely makes things more interesting. For those who still love the touch and feel of a real book as opposed to the colder but more convenient digital equivalent things will change but only for the better.

[Via – Impress]