Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Other Applications
offices, business and financial sectors,
societies or communities and even hotels
by simply attaching an RFID tag to the
personnel's badge or ID card. RFID chips
are even embedded into car keys that al-
low the car to start only if they key has the
proper chip in it. Law enforcement bodies
use RFID to track credit cards, jewelry, ve-
hicle etc. by embedding tags in these ob-
jects. This technology helps to make sure
that only authorized persons are allowed
access, hence preventing trespassing, theft
or misuse.
Animal tagging is a substantial market for RFID.
Earlier animal tagging was used only for large
ranches, but since the outbreak of mad-cow
disease incident, it has become crucial in animal
identification management. Many countries have
made it mandatory that all the livestock should
be RFID-tagged so that they can be tracked when
lost, stolen or in case of any disease outbreak.
RFID is also used in the entertainment sector.
The RFID-based eXspot system, used in San Fran-
cisco's Exploratorium, helps visitors to interact
with exhibits within the science museum allow-
ing them to register and document their interests.
Amusement park's control system combined with
RFID lets the visitors to customize their ride ex-
perience in the park and allows the management
to track important data about the usage of rides,
time spent in line waiting, frequency of visitors
and even information about where they spent their
time and money. Visitors in the theme parks wear
RFID bracelets to track their family members in
the park and monitor their children more closely.
RFID technology even helps in improving the
environment by identifying hazardous materials
that should not be dumped in landfills and also in
looking for materials that can be recycled.
Companies are also looking for technologies
that will enable them to completely automate the
checkout process - eliminate queues at cash coun-
ters and also trim down the need of salespersons to
market products to customers in department stores,
supermarkets or malls. Experts have envisioned
of equipping shopping carts with an RFID reader,
computer and a small display through which a
customer can view price, brief information, special
offers, recommended add-ons, etc. for the tagged
products (Anonymous, 2005, p.2).
The US military is also at present funding
research for simple RFID sensors that would be
able to detect pathogens in food and protect people
against food-borne diseases or even deliberate
acts of terrorism. Military groups are planning
•
Human tracking is another application of
RFID technology which is used just the
same as asset tracking system. It is becom-
ing common in hospitals, care centers and
nursing homes to track patients, elderly
people and even babies, where the manage-
ment, monitoring and tracking of individu-
als is vital at all times. Jails in US states
like Michigan, California and Arizona use
RFID tracking system to keep a close eye
on the jail inmates.
•
RFID technology can even be used to cre-
ate smart products that interact with smart
appliances. Unilever, an Anglo-Dutch con-
sumer products goods company, created
a prototype of a smart kitchen in which
the RFID reader, located in the pantry,
reads all the tags placed on the products
on kitchen shelves and a computer pro-
gram determines what items can be cooked
with the available products in the kitchen
(Anonymous, 2005, p.1). An Italian ap-
pliance maker, Merloni Elettrodomestici,
also created a smart washing machine
wherein when clothes are dropped into
the machine, and an RFID reader built in
the appliance reads the tags placed on the
clothes and the machine washes the clothes
based on the instructions written to the tag
(Anonymous, 2005, p.2).
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