RFID in Japan

Fujitsu Frontech, Fujitsu, Fujitsu Labs, and Nippon Sheet Glass co-developed what they call "glass antennas." Developed are UHF RFID antennas integrated in a glass gate and a glass showcase. RFID antennas are directly printed on the glass gate. These devices are being exhibited at the RETAILTECH JAPAN 2005 trade show in Tokyo (starting March 1).

via nikkeibp, March 1, 2005, in Japanese.

A related news: RFID Journal reported that a swiss startup patented a way of embedding a tiny RFID transponder in the glass crystal of a watch last summer.

Fujitsu developed a system that uses large plasma display integrated with eight RFID readers for delivering personalized information to citizens at public venues. The system is intended for places such as city streets, train stations, and airports. It responds to RFID tags (either RFID cards or RFID'd phones) carried by users and display information that is tailored for individuals. Fujitsu plans to commercialize this system, which is currently called UbiWall) this year.

For example, at an airport, (suppose a passanger's air ticket is RFID'd), UbiWall gets information about where s/he is traveling and shows a route to his/her gate. In a department store, UbiWall gets information about a customer's age and gender through his/her RFID'd phone and suggests some sales floors.

Via asahi.com, February 27, 2005, in Japnese

The Nation reports:

TIDI is now developing what it calls a speaking drug label, technology that integrates radio-frequency-identification (RFID) technology and voice recording to allow drug labels to talk to users. It will tell the name of the medicine and also give instructions on its use and information about it¡Çs quality and possible side effects.

NTT DoCoMo first introduced mobile phones with embedded RFID FeliCa chips last summer. Then, consumers started using them for buying movie tickets, paying for arcade games, paying at convenience store chain AM/PM, buying soda, etc. DoCOMo expects to sell 10 million FeliCa mobile phones by the end of March 2006. Also, it will be possible to use them as train passes next January when the mobile SUICA service starts.

What will Vodafone and KDDI, other major mobile carriers, do? Vodafone just announced that they will introduce RFID'd mobile phones (using FeliCa as well) this coming October.

KDDI once announced that they will also introduce RFID'd mobile phones autumn this year.

via Keitai Watch, February 24, 2005, in Japanese.

It was last February when four Japanese companies (NEC Corporation, NEC System Integration & Construction, Ltd., Toppan Printing, and YEC Co., Ltd.) announced that they will develop an RFID-based bicycle parking system that tracks RFID'd bicycles. Bicycle owners' ID codes are stored in RFID tags that are automatically read by readers at entrance gates. Administrators of bicycle parking facilities can monitor bicycles using personal computers and, when bicycles are stolen, owners can be notified by email.

Last week, another group of three Japanese companies (NTT Communications, Toppan Printing, Bridgestone Cycle Co., Ltd) announced that they will test a similar RFID-based bicycle parking system next month in the Japanese city of Mitaka. In this experiment, PDAs are used to read RFID tags attached to bicycles.

via ITMedia, February 18, 2005, in Japanese.

This one looks heavy. This page has additional samples of Design Barcode.

via K Style Website::Blog, February 22, in Japanese

Many (including me) believe this will be a hugely successful service.

Some 10 million Japanese commuters use smart cards embedded with a computer chip to pay for train tickets and slip by station gates with just a tap of their plastic on special reading devices.

With a service planned for launch in January next year, they'll be able to use their mobile phones in place of the cards to pay for their train fares, a Japanese train company, a top mobile operator and Sony Corp. said Tuesday.

via TechnologyReview.com and Yahoo News

In January, it was reported that GPS school bags for tracking kids were selling well.

Recently, the city of Zushi in Kanagawa prefecture, Japan decided to spend 8.12 million Japanese yen (about 80,000 USD) to provide free GPS tracking devices for all 530 freshmen in elementary schools. The news doesn¡Çt clearly say if it¡Çs mandatory to carry it or not. (via SankeiWeb, February 16, in Japanese)

Also, NTT Data today announced that they developed a new RFID-based student tracking system and would test it from this coming April till July in Yokohama. These RFID-enabled devices will be carried by 300 elementary school children and 30 RFID readers installed in a school district will track these children. The tag devices' communication range is about 15 meters. The tag device also has a button which children can push to notify emergency to parents, a security guard company, and voluntarily participating residents in the area. When a button is pushed, these volunteers living near RFID readers receive a message with a child¡Çs name, how s/he looks, and other characteristics of the child. (via Yomiuri On-line, February 21, in Japanese)