RFID in Japan

NTT Network Service Systems Laboratories and Osaka University are working on a shopping mall ad system using smart tags. They plan to test the system in January next year.

Customers will carry cards embedded with smart tags. Reader equipment positioned alongside a monitor located in a mall will read the tag and obtain information on the location and identity of the individual. This data will then be checked against that of a server where personal information will be recorded. On the basis of that information, advertising to suit the particular person will be displayed.

Let's say you are in a DVD shop and your preference setting says "I like horror movies" Then a horrifying ad for the latest from Sam Raimi shows up in the monitor right in front of you. You run away, and here you go, another monitor showing what you said you like in your preference setting. Alright, the good news is the monitor also shows a store map so you can easily find the DVD and purchase it (perhaps easier to do so than running away from the ubiquitous horror ads.)

The system could also be configured to allow shoppers to input shopping lists on a mall's Web site before going there. In such a case, a customer standing in front of a monitor would be shown ads for items on the shopping list.

Addressing consumers' privacy concerns could be a big challenge in deploying something like this...

via Nikkei Net Interactive, August 12, 2005

many many thanks to regine for the link

Posted by konomi at August 12, 2005 01:10 AM | TrackBack