RFID in Japan

NTT Data, Tokyu Security, and Its Communications presented the results of their pilot tests of the active RFID-based system for tracking school kids. The pilot test, which is called "I Safety", took place from April 5 till the end of July in Aoba-ku of Yokohama City. The companies claim that the system was well received by parents (even though there were some issues.)

27 active RFID readers were installed in a 1km square area called "Watch Spot" to track kids' whereabouts in the area. Parents can view their kids' locations using a PC or a cellphone. Also, notifications can be sent to parents' mobile phones when their kids are detected by a specified RFID reader.

What's unique about this pilot is the human network system for handling emergency situations: if a child presses an emergency button on the "tag", adults will come running to help him/her-- these adults not only includes professional security guards but also volunteers who are living near RFID readers. (The volunteers are selected from the kids' parents) 188 kids participated.

One of the major problem was false alarms. There were 53 cases of emergency alarms, however, all of them were false alarms. Because of frequent false alarms, the volunteers eventually got less serious about running out there to help. Also, even when some volunteers came to help, there was no way to confirm that they were the volunteers.

More than half of the parents said they can pay 2000 Japanese Yen (about $17) a month for such a service.

via ITMedia, September 30, in Japanese

Posted by konomi at October 5, 2005 01:13 AM | TrackBack