We use cookies to provide you with a better experience. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies in accordance with our Cookie Policy.
  • ::COVID-19 COVERAGE::
  • INDUSTRY PRESS ROOM
  • ABOUT
  • CONTACT
  • MEDIA FILE
  • Create Account
  • Sign In
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
Free Newsletters
  • MAGAZINE
    • Current Issue
    • Archives
    • Digital Edition
    • Subscribe
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • TRANSPORTATION
  • MATERIAL HANDLING
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • LIFT TRUCKS
  • PODCAST ETC
    • Podcast
    • Webcasts
    • Blogs
      • One-Off Sound Off
      • Global Logistics and Risk
      • Empowering Your Performance Edge
      • Analytics & Big Data
      • Submit your blog post
    • Events
    • White Papers
    • Industry Press Room
      • Upload Your News
    • New Products
      • Upload Your Product News
    • Conference Guides
    • Conference Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • DCV-TV
    • DCV-TV 1: News
    • DCV-TV 2: Case Studies
    • DCV-TV 3: Webcasts
    • DCV-TV 4: Viewer Contributed
    • DCV-TV 5: Solution Profiles
    • MODEX 2022
    • Upload Your Video
  • MAGAZINE
    • Current Issue
    • Archives
    • Digital Edition
    • Subscribe
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • TRANSPORTATION
  • MATERIAL HANDLING
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • LIFT TRUCKS
  • PODCAST ETC
    • Podcast
    • Webcasts
    • Blogs
      • One-Off Sound Off
      • Global Logistics and Risk
      • Empowering Your Performance Edge
      • Analytics & Big Data
      • Submit your blog post
    • Events
    • White Papers
    • Industry Press Room
      • Upload Your News
    • New Products
      • Upload Your Product News
    • Conference Guides
    • Conference Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • DCV-TV
    • DCV-TV 1: News
    • DCV-TV 2: Case Studies
    • DCV-TV 3: Webcasts
    • DCV-TV 4: Viewer Contributed
    • DCV-TV 5: Solution Profiles
    • MODEX 2022
    • Upload Your Video
Home » the end of "hide and seek"
rfidwatch

the end of "hide and seek"

May 1, 2007
DC Velocity Staff
No Comments

The next time Jack Bauer and his colleagues on "24" want to track down insurgents suspected of plotting a nuclear attack, they might want to call ThingMagic. The Cambridge, Mass.-based RFID reader developer may have just what they're looking for. At RFID World in March, representatives from ThingMagic demonstrated an RFID application that could be used for locating people.

The application, which combines open architecture technology from Google Maps with RFID, wasn't developed as a crime-fighting tool. It was prompted by an emergency that forced the evacuation of ThingMagic's headquarters last summer. The company's staff was unexpectedly separated by several stairwell exits, making it hard to account for everyone. The incident—and some work on location awareness and asset-tracking applications with customers—led ThingMagic's engineering team to apply the company's Mercury reader technology to an internal application for the headquarters office.

"We integrated a system of Mercury5 readers and antennas, employee RFID badges on lanyards, and our office floor plan, with Google Maps," says ThingMagic CTO Yael Maguire. "This demonstration application allows us to track staff wearing the badges and record their location history within our office space. We are able to quickly locate every employee and guest in the event of another building emergency—or preparedness drill—that requires fast, full evacuation. But there are many other uses for an application like this, notably tracking assets."

The technology would seem a natural fit for public safety workers and first responders like firefighters. If firefighters were equipped with RFID badges, for example, their whereabouts could be tracked inside a building, provided RFID readers were in place.

ThingMagic has no immediate plans to market the system, which is in a pilot phase at its headquarters, where several Mercury5 readers have been installed. A half dozen employees have volunteered to incorporate UHF RFID tags into their access badges. Kevin Ashton, vice president of marketing for ThingMagic, stresses that the system isn't being employed to track the whereabouts of employees or their productivity.

"The technology is moving very fast and we wanted to show what you can do with RFID now,"says Ashton."A couple years ago it would have been very difficult to read a passive tag around somebody's neck as they moved through a building."

Despite the system's potential for use in security- and safety-related applications, there is bound to be fallout from privacy advocates who see the use of RFID in office buildings as a threat. "Any time we step forward and talk about tracking people, there will be concerns raised," notes Russ Klein, research director for Aberdeen Group's enabling technology practice.

"If you are trapped in a burning building, the last thing you want is privacy," says Ashton. "At the end of the day, privacy concerns are about what [information] is being captured and what it is being used for."

Metro bets the store on RFID

While its more cautious counterparts are still testing the RFID waters, Metro Group is taking the plunge. The German retailer is investing heavily in an RFID system for tracking individual high-value garments and accessories. Metro says it's confident it will see a payback on the technology once it begins using the system. "We anticipate a significant return on investment for tagging high-value garments," says Dr. Gerd Wolfram, managing director, MGI Metro Group Information Technology.

The retailer has announced that it will co-develop the solution with Seattle-based Impinj, which will rely on its GrandPrix UHF RFID solution to provide real-time visibility into Metro's retail garment operations. This platform comprises Impinj's UHF Gen 2 Speedway readers with application-specific near-field antennas and item-level tags powered by Impinj's Monza UHF Gen 2 silicon chips. "Given Impinj's pioneering work in developing UHF Gen 2 RFID solutions, particularly for item-level tagging, and given Metro's leading role in adopting RFID to improve and streamline retail operations," says Wolfram, "it is only natural that we work together to develop a UHF RFID solution for tagging garments."

Item-level tagging is catching on with European retailers. Reno, Europe's second-largest shoe retailer, plans to have RFID technology in place at 700 stores in six countries by the end of this month. And Marks & Spencer says it has plans to tag every piece of apparel it sells.

Automatic Data Capture RFID
  • Related Articles

    hide and seek

    the end of the raincheck?

    "End of the Line" not top-of-the-line

Recent Articles by DC Velocity Staff

Report: U.S. ports are most expensive for detention and demurrage fees

J.B. Hunt adds 250 new intermodal containers to speed Asia-U.S. lanes

The Rainmakers

You must login or register in order to post a comment.

Report Abusive Comment

Most Popular Articles

  • Private equity firm acquires packaging provider Coregistics in e-commerce bet

  • Trucking industry warns that AB 5 decision could push freight capacity out of California

  • Packaging industry reprioritizes amid inflation, supply chain disruption

  • Warehousing's perfect storm

  • Raymond Corp. marks 100th anniversary

Now Playing on DCV-TV

E3f9e6d5 8bd4 40ca 8c7f 43aa63ea3fc9

Lessons from CSCMP’s Annual Report Card for Shippers and Carriers

DCV-TV 4: Viewer Contributed
Recently, the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) released their 33rd Annual State of Logistics Report which is created by AT Kearny. I've viewed this as basically a "Report Card" for shippers and carriers since it offers a comprehensive view of what they both have dealt with in the past year,...

FEATURED WHITE PAPERS

  • Breaking Bad: Conducting Full Truckload RFPs in the Age of Digital Freight Procurement

  • Fueling Sustainability for Manufacturers: Strategies to Increase Fuel Efficiency and Reduce Your Carbon Footprint

  • Guide to Proven Warehouse Solutions

  • Five common misconceptions about running a private fleet

View More

Subscribe to DC Velocity Magazine

GET YOUR FREE SUBSCRIPTION
  • SUBSCRIBE
  • NEWSLETTERS
  • ADVERTISING
  • CUSTOMER CARE
  • CONTACT
  • ABOUT
  • STAFF
  • PRIVACY POLICY

Copyright ©2022. All Rights ReservedDesign, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing