Make a (NFC-enhanced) slip case for your phone

Have an Android phone with NFC capabilities? Make a multi-functional carrying case that automatically puts your ringer on silent, turns it up loud, or creates a Wi-Fi hotspot!

Watch IMG_0433.MOV below for an overview of what it'll look like and what it does.

If you don't have an Android (boo-urns!) then you can still use part of this guide (what you're looking at now) to make a case for ANY phone -- sans NFC tags.

Step 1: Gather your materials.

To make the paper sizing template:
* Blank sheet of paper
* Ruler
* Pencil
* Scissors
* Scotch tape or glue

To make the outer part of the case:
* Felt (or some other fabric for the outer part of the case)
* Thread to match felt
* Sewing pins
* Sewing machine (recommend but not required)

To make the inner part of the case:
* Foam sheet

To do the NFC stuff:
* 4 NFC stickers (the anti-metal kind): http://www.tagstand.com/collections/anti-metal-nfc-stickers/products/mifare-ultralight-white-metal-proof-nfc-sticker-circle-30mm-diameter
* Radio frequency blocking fabric: https://www.inventables.com/technologies/metalized-fabric
* Marker
* Hand sewing needle

And, of course, you'll need a phone. (An Android device with NFC support is required to complete the entire project.)

Comments

[mccoyqin]

look so good1

[phillycodehound]

So what you're doing is having NFC tags at different angles in the case. So if I want it to vibrate I turn my phone one way. If I want it loud it turn it another way. Right?

This is a neat concept.

[liquid_lightning]

I don't know how to sew but luckily I bought my girlfriend a sewing machine for Christmas and she's forever complaining about having nothing to do with it, now I have an idea for her.

I like my cases to be a little more rigid, would thick card stock or eve cardboard get in the way of the NFC tags? I don't even know that I'm going to use the tags, but if I do it'll be good to know.

[karmagirl]

NFC works through quite a lot of inert materials (fabric, plastic, even single pane glass!) so the more important thing is to make sure you keep it under 1cm thin. NFC is suppose to work up to 10cm away but those are marketed "ideal" situations.

The foam sheets I used are actually quite rigid (while adding protection from stray finger presses); even more so than card stock. Plus, if card stock got bent, it would quickly lose it's rigidness.

You could look into a stiff leather or a leather-like material.

[yoyology]

What I don't get is how this operates. I can't watch the video at the moment. Is it loud when you put it in the case one way, silent if you flip it around, and then default or wifi depending on which side of the outside of the case you put it on?

I love this idea. I've wanted a way to tell my Samsung Replenish to be silent whenever it's in my pocket ever since I got it. My Blackberry had a reed switch so when it was in the case with a little magnet, it knew it should shut up.

If this phone was NFC-enabled, I could put a tag in the case for silent, one in my car for speaker/loud, one on my bedside table...

Dang. Now I want a new phone.

[karmagirl]

You are exactly right in how you think it operates.

I first thought of this project a while back because my phone *always* makes its way to the very bottom of my purse and I can never hear it ring!

NFC support came along in Android and I said, "Ah ha! The answer to my woes!"