The Change Mariner

RFID and Wi-Fi Watch The Kids

Legoland, the Danish equivalent of Disneyland, is the test bed of a new Wi-Fi version of Radio Frequency ID (RFID) tags, the technology making converts everywhere from the halls of the U.S. Pentagon to the aisles of retail giant Wal-Mart.

For retailers, like Wal-Mart, with millions of items which must be tracked and ordered, RFID is a technological marvel, simplifying complex inventory procedures and on-time shipment schedules. For the Pentagon, a ready supply of boots and bullets isn't so much about keeping customers happy as keeping them alive.

But much of RFID is passive with an operational range extending just a few feet. San Mateo, Calif.-based Bluesoft hopes to ride the RFID wave of popularity with its matchbook-sized AeroScout Wi-Fi tag. The AeroScout was upgraded this week to a new version called T2, reportedly with more flexibility in the form it can take. Along with the Wi-Fi radios, the AeroScout system uses Bluesoft's location servers.

AeroScout combines longer-range active RFID with real-time location technology and 802.11b-based Wi-Fi radios to track and monitor high-value objects -- for example, children. When Denmark's LegoLand reopened its 2.5 million square-foot amusement park on March 27, the toymaker brought in Bluesoft and the Wi-FI-based RFID system to help solve a nagging problem for the 1.6 million: lost kids.

Posted by Bob King at May 3, 2004 09:52 AM | TrackBack
Related Categories: Area - Social - Privacy | Area - Tech - Wi-Fi | Area -Tech - RFID | Industry - Telecommunications | Quadrant - Technological | Theme - 'Digital Impact'

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