Hello Ben,
I would kindly suggest to you to make a mimic of the Nintendo 3DS -amiibo- NFC Reader/Writer using (probably) an Arduino(any type),Adafruit NFC/RFID Shield,a ir led and a ir receiver.
Reasons:
- Teaching us (the viewers) how NFC/RFID works
Thank you for your time to read this build suggestion.
P.S.:- I thing your explorer suit is cool.
- If you are not going to do it please let me know that