RFID Gazette

16 Barriers to RFID Ubiquity

RFID is arguably a very efficient technology, made for multiple purposes, useful for private and public sectors. The benefits of RFID are far too numerous to mention in a single article, as the potential applications are seemingly endless. Many in the industry and elsewhere feel that the technology will become ubiquitous and replace older technologies because of its efficiencies and extra functionality. The problem is, it is also a very controversial technology for many reasons, which are thus a barrier to widespread adoption of RFID.

More Contactless Vending Machines Coming

Six large vending machine companies in the United States plan to outfit their vending machines with  contactless payment technology. The technology will accept MasterCard PayPass cards and key fobs.

An announcement earlier this month from MasterCard and USA Technologies stated that 6,000+ vending machines in the US would allow for contactless payments using NFC-enabled cell phones. Late last year, USA Technologies had announced plans to install contactless card readers on 10,000 vending machines.

Contactless payment technology vendors are hoping to capture the sub-$25.00 per transaction market of vending machines and convenience stores. While there are the two types of contactless payment (card/fob and cell phone), the cell phone method is at a disadvantage since there are currently few NFC-enabled phones in the United States and Canada. Contactless keyfobs and credit cards, on the other hand, have the distinct advantage of being easily distributed.

More Contactless Payment At Sporting Events

The use of RFID, particularly NFC (Near Field Communication) at sporting events has been so functionally successful that it's really seems to be catching on. In addition to being used for preventing counterfeit ticket use and for crowd management (seating, gates, etc.), RFID is also being used for payment at concession stands and souvenir shops, either with keyfobs or contactless payment/credit cards. Several sports teams in the NHL and the NBA will now be allowing fans to use the contactless MasterCard PayPass cards to speed up concession stand payments. If you've ever been to a sporting event, you know how long you might wait in line, meanwhile missing the action.

Earthquake Protection With RFID and Nanotechnology

RFID seems to be enjoying a lot of hybrid use lately, combined with other technologies. Some are actually in use, others are still at the theoretical or testing stage. One such hybridization will combine RFID and nanotechnology to protect homes from earthquake damage. A group of British researchers are working on a self-healing house [via ETechTrends].

The nanotech is applied to the house walls, which can liquify under pressure, then re-harden, thus reducing the chances of crumbling during an earthquake. The RFID is used in conjunction with wireless sensors to warn residents.

RFID hybridization is something that I think we'll see a lot of over the next few years, especially with sensor technology, and as nanotechnology matures.

RFID Gazette - Mon Apr 23, 2007

More Hybrid RFID Technologies
A number of companies have spent the last few years creating hybrid technologies that combine RFID and something else. HAMMER is a system that goes further by combining not two but multiple technologies: RFID, GPS, mapping, and sensors. It also combines a digital camera and PDA. The system helps map archeological sites as well as helps track bar-coded artifacts, amongst other uses. [via RFID Journal]

China To Use RFID For 2008 Olympics
Given the success of RFID implementations in sports stadiums and events in the past couple of years, it's not surprising that RFID will be used by China in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Usage will include security and anti-fraud, such as ensuring that tickets are legitimate. [SDA Asia via RFID News] This is how the 2006 FIFA World Cup (Soccer) event used RFID.

Spanish Reebok Sports Club Using RFID
Sports clubs, too, are implementing RFID technology. A 6,000 member club in Madrid, Spain, uses RFID for a variety of purposes: entry, access to facilities, and payment for various purchases. The club says that over two years, they've been saving the equivalen in Euros of nearly US$100K per year. This is partly due to the fact that memberships are getting updated more often. [via RFID Journal]

RFID Regulation: New Bills In California and North Dakota

To date, two states - Wisconsin and now North Dakota -  have banned forced human RFID implants. Except that there's no way that'll stop determined employers. Jeremy Duffy offers an explanation of how organizations might circumvent such laws. One way is by suggesting that implantation is voluntary but to then either punish those that don't "volunteer" or reward those that do. I've worked for enough bad bosses in my life to know the tactics companies use to make you do what they want, or to conoct ways to make you quit if you don't comply. There's no reason why the same sort of emotional blackmail will not happen in regards to RFID implantation.

In California, the issue is more about the use of RFID in certain ways by public entities. An elementary school there has tried to implement an RFID program to monitor the whereabouts of students. To deter this sort of use, the California Senate passed a bill 28-5 to prevent public schools from mandatory RFID systems for monitoring students. The bill must still be passed by the State Assembly.

Smartdust Explorers and RFID Sensors

New Scientist/Space talks about using currently theoretical shape-shifting smart dust for exploring alien worlds. They describe the functionality of the motes, which is to actually float over a surface, carried by inconstant winds. They have wireless sensors that allow them to communicate with each other.

While there's no mention of RFID in the article, the fact is, these motes could likely be built with RFID technology. Consider the powder RFID chips that Hitachi just came up with. They're not quite nanotechnology, but they're close. Make them smaller, then add a small array of environmental sensors, then have the chips communicate as part of a sensor network. This would probably require some sort of base station, but that could be the space vechicle sent to the alien world.

Steal Data From RFID Passports With $20 In Equipment

[Commentary] Apparently, all you need to do to skim data from a certain type of RFID chip used in e-passports and credit cards is $20 worth of equipment available on eBay and the know how. Except that security researcher Chris Paget isn't allowed to say how the flaw works, due to a claim by a chip maker that he'd be infringing on various rights. They stopped Paget from talking at the Black Hat conference in February, and they're still trying to do so now.

Very interesting way of trying to defeat detractors, but instead helping, those who feel consumers should be aware of such security flaws will probably mistrust the manufacturer now. (I unfortunately do not know who this is - see below.) Alienating more people is not what the RFID industry needs; it's about awareness. It might be time get new lawyers and PR people.

[UPDATE: I mistakenly indicated that IOActive is the chipmaker in the above article. Correction made, and my sincere apologies for the error.]

Printed RFID Already?

Printed RFID circuits may be here sooner than expected. And all it takes is a regular desktop printer. And a special solution containing Vitamin C and silver nitrate. A PhD student at Leeds University in the UK ran a test on a Hewlett-Packard inkjet printer. The result of using this metal ink is the ability to produce mobile phone antennas, RFID chips, and other circuits. Each circuit is reprinted several times to increase conductivity, in case ink dots are not touching.

There's no indication of what this costs, and the use of silver nitrate might raise environmental issues. (Silver nitrate is used to create silver halide, which is then used to process black and white photographs.) However, if the compound is safe and the cost feasible, it might be a better solution than other methods of producing printed RFID chips.

Boston Marathon Adopts RFID

The Boston Marathon has announced that they'll be using RFID technology that allows monitoring of athletes' whereabouts. This is partly for the purposes of sending wireless or email alerts to friends and family of runners. [via PC World]

They are not the first race to use RFID, but it wouldn't suprise me if more marathons converted to this. (Many sports - such as baseball, golf, soccer, car racing, parkour - are finding interesting ways to use RFID.) Marathon fans often want to watch but cannot be at the event. RFID allows for near real-time monitoring, as well as ensuring that only registered athletes are participating. For the Boston Marathon, RFID tags are slipped over shoelaces before they're tied.

RFID Gazette - Mon Apr 09, 2007

Sirit Gets California Toll Road Contract
RFID use in toll roads continues to increase in the United States and the OCTA (Orange County Transportation Authority) is expanding their own existing use. They've awarded Sirit a three-year contract for US$2M in RFID transponders as an extension of a prior contract. [via RFID Update]

RFID Asset Tracking For Jewelry Retailers
Jewelry retailers can breathe a bit easier with a tracking system from from RSI ID Technologies. The system includes tags, readers and software, and allows retailers to keep track of in-store jewelry items as well as provide data on which pieces are generating interest. [via RFID Journal] A number of jewelry stores in the Middle East have already been using a different RFID system for asset tracking.

How RFID Helps
CRM Buyer gives a good example of how RFID helps in a number of applications including supply chain and security. For example, US ports handle about 7 million containers yearly but there are only enough personnel to inspect about 2%. RFID locking systems and other security measures in terms of supply chain process can reduce the security risk. The CRM Buyer article is fairly general and is targeted at those new to RFID use in SCM (Supply Chain Management).

RFID Implants: 5 Amazing Stories

Human RFID implanting has become a hot topic in the past few years. Early on, the dangers of implants — at least in terms of privacy and security — appear to be outweighing the benefits. The biggest fear is that the tiny rice-sized implants may someday become mandatory and would then be used as some sort of Big Brother type device to keep tabs on private citizens. Some states, such as Wisconsin, have even gone so far as to pass legislation banning any such mandatory chip implantation. Preemptory? Perhaps, but concerns about RFID implants are not unfounded. Implants can be read by anyone with access to a RFID scanner, and hackers have shown that the chips are not as secure as had been previously thought.

So with all these concerns you wouldn’t think many people would be willing to sign up to have the implants inserted — and you’d be right. Only a handful of people worldwide have the implants. But the number of willing participants is growing. This begs the question: what kind of person would be willing to undergo the procedure and what benefits they would expect to derive? Here are a few of the pioneering guinea pigs who’ve gone under the needle to get RFID implants.

Top 15 Weirdest, Funniest, and Scariest Uses of RFID

You will be hard-pressed to find an article about RFID that doesn't march out the clichéd "Big Brother" reference. Indeed, RFID's growing popularity has a lot of paranoid people running scared. It isn't all paranoia, however. While some RFID applications are rather ominous, there are some pretty amusing ones, too. You might find the following 15 uses for RFID both interesting and surprising.

Zipcar RFID-Based Car Sharing Service Expands

Car sharing services have existed for years in North America in many large and even some small cities. But Zipcar is a service with a difference: they use RFID contactless cards to open the doors, making it much easier to schedule more efficient sharing. The other difference is that Zipcar is the first car sharing service to go international. Besides service offerings in US cities, they are in Toronto, Canada, and more recently, Vancouver.

Cars have had RFID tech in various components including door keys for many years now - even if consumers are not aware of this fact. However, the Zipcar technology means the ability to produce multiple keys per car.

This is actually an ideal time to get into Vancouver, what with the Winter Olympics coming in 2010 and a cramped road infrastructure. Visitors to the games are going to want to rent vehicles, especially since the events are actually spread out over at least two sites. Vancouver area's roads supposedly cannot take a surge in vehicles. So a service like this might be a boon to everyone, especially if they're set up to handle short-term use.

New RFID Starter Kit

So you're a company that is thinking about using RFID technology for asset management. Maybe you have to use RFID to meet some compliance requirements? What do you do? Where do you start? RFID training is highly recommended, but a supplement to this is an RFID starter kit.

Now, there are the toy kits and the more serious ones like the RFID starter kit offered by Fluensee, which can actually be used in a production environment. This one costs $10,000, includes asset tracking software, a handheld reader (ruggedized), and a few hundred passive tags. Not quite as cheap as the $99 toy kit, but likely more useful.

As RFID matures and becomes more commonplace, we should see more specialized kits at difference price points. This will be almost necessary to entice smaller businesses that could benefit but are concerned about the total cost outlay.

RFID + Sports: Parkour - Urban Acrobatics

Back in the late 80s, when I lived in Toronto, I had a skinhead buddy who liked to intimidate people. One trick he'd pull was to have me stand still on the sidewalk and he'd run, vault over my shoulders, and virtually float over my head. He'd then do the same over parking meters, over and over until he got a reaction from passersby. I can't remember if he was a Jackie Chan fan, but people either thought it was cool or would be scared of him.

Nowadays, this sort of urban acrobatics (aka parkour, freerunning, freestyling) is becoming commonplace, as witnessed by the 20 videos in the SplashCast included in this post. (Works like a slideshow, but each "slide" is a YouTube video.)

What some Parkour fans have done, though, is turned their acrobatics into a sort of performance course using RFID tags and readers. The gist of it is that they'll wear tags on their clothes or as part of a wristband. A course will have been plotted out beforehand, and RFID readers will be placed at key points, recording when a participant passes by.

It's an ingenious use of technology, but with or without it, it's incredible to watch these guys and gals defying gravity. Of course, the standard disclaimers apply: don't try this at home without someone to train you. Somewhere on YouTube is a video of people getting hurt in Parkour.

Surge of Cashless NFC Vending Machines

NFC, or Near Field Communication, is a technology that's been in use in Asia and Europe for a few years, allowing consumers with appropriate NFC-enabled cell phones to pay for all manner of self-payment purchases, such as bus fares and movie tickets, or for items from vending machines.

To date, that hasn't really been the case in North America. However, MasterCard and USA Technologies are in the process of pushing out 6,000 vending machines in over twenty American cities. Customers can use an NFC phone for purchases, thanks to the new e-Port technology from USA Technologies.

One thing I see holding back the popularity of such vending machines is the lack of NFC phones, though Nokia is making progress in that regard. Still, ABI Research said back in 2004 that by 2009, about 50% of all cell phones would have NFC. What remains is to see whether consumers become comfortable using such a payment method.

New RFID Training Program

Domino ISG and OTA Training recently announced a teamup to provide RFID training and certification courses. They will take place at four Domino CoEs (Centers of Excellence) in the US and UK, and newer centers in Asia and elsewhere in Europe. [via RFID Solutions Online]

The courses are an extension of those that OTA Training already provides their clients, and by partnering with Domino, students will have hands-on training at the CoEs. Start dates are expected to be announced later this year.

Last year, Domino received approval from GS1 UK to offer training for GS1, particularly in SCM (Supply Chain Management). OTA has previously had their training program adapted by CompTIA for the latter's RFID+ certification program, which is vendor-neutral.

RFID training is a critical step for the industry, as a lack of skilled workers is expected to hold companies back from adoption of the technology. Hopefully, more companies follow the lead of Loftwares, who recently had several employees certified.