The National Museum of Singapore is marking the 60th anniversary of Singapore’s independence with two major new visitor experiences that chart the nation’s journey from early settlement to modern global city. While the centrepiece of the announcement is cultural storytelling and immersive exhibition design, a notable element underpinning the visitor experience is the use of High Frequency RFID (NFC) wristband technology to personalise and deepen engagement.
The first experience, Singapore Odyssea: A Journey Through Time, serves as an immersive introduction to Singapore’s history. Located within the Shaw Foundation Glass Rotunda, it combines large scale projections, soundscapes and interactive storytelling to transport visitors through pivotal moments in the nation’s past. On arrival, visitors are issued with an HF RFID embedded wristband, which becomes a digital key throughout the exhibition. Using the wristband, visitors select a “Magical Companion”, inspired by Singapore’s native animals, which then guides their journey and unlocks hidden layers of content as they move through the space.
This application of RFID enables the museum to deliver a tailored narrative without requiring visitors to use personal devices. As guests progress through the galleries, the wristband triggers personalised interactions, revealing additional historical insights and responding dynamically to visitor choices. The technology supports a seamless and intuitive experience, aligning well with the museum’s aim of creating an accessible, family friendly introduction to Singapore’s history.
RFID wristbands also play a significant role in the second exhibition, Once Upon a Tide: Singapore’s Journey from Settlement to Global City. This exhibition explores the influence of maritime trade, rivers and coastal routes on Singapore’s development over more than 700 years. Spread across five themed sections and featuring over 350 artefacts, the exhibition incorporates interactive elements where visitors answer reflective questions using their RFID wristbands. These responses generate one of four digital avatars, encouraging visitors to consider their own values and aspirations in the context of Singapore’s evolving identity.
From an RFID perspective, this deployment highlights how passive identification technology can be used beyond access control or ticketing. In this case, RFID becomes a tool for engagement, data-driven storytelling and collective participation, all while remaining unobtrusive. It allows the museum to link visitor interactions across multiple zones and experiences, creating a continuous narrative journey.
The National Museum of Singapore’s anniversary programme demonstrates how RFID can enhance cultural spaces by supporting personalisation, interactivity and reflection, reinforcing its growing role within modern museum and exhibition environments.
For more information to to the National Museum of Singapores website