In 2006, much of the media attention focused, justifiably, on Gen2 UHF and longer-range RFID tags for use in logistics. As we enter 2007, however, equal attention should be given to applications a little “closer at hand” — in fact, in your hand. Integration of RFID readers into cell phones and PDAs, along with advances in sensor-enabled tags and the growing interest in Near Field Communications (NFC) applications and sensors, might see an entirely new RFID model emerging: personal RFID.

Imagine going to a grocery store and having your cell phone assure you that the bag of frozen chicken breasts you’re holding remained frozen from the time it was packed until the time you picked it up. Or having your refrigerator call you to remind you that the jar of salsa at the back of the middle shelf has reached it expiration date. Or walking past a display and having it send your phone a toll-free number you could call for a discount coupon or special offer.

While some of these applications are a bit futuristic, they represent ideas that are currently being developed or tested.

The foremost of these applications is in Tokyo’s famed Ginza shopping district where a test of RFID-enabled tourist information will begin in January. RFID tags affixed to lamp posts and other features will provide tourists with directions, information on restaurants and shops, and other information to make their visit more enjoyable. Tourists can use their own cell phones or rent prototype readers.

Samsung is developing a prototype refrigerator to read RFID-tagged food items that can monitor contents and note depleted or expired items and send a message to your cell phone or PDA.

Some hotel rooms are beginning to include RFID readers that respond to cell phone signals (programmed at the front desk) that will eliminate the need for room keys or key cards (and the potential to misplace them).

RFID readers in cell phones are also being tested for vending machine purchases in Korea.

Health benefits for the consumer could also be provided — and not just in the area of pharmaceuticals. As food allergies become more common, RFID shelf tags that list product ingredients could be read by cell phones or PDAs that would look up all the variant names and descriptions of ingredients to which a consumer might be allergic (or to automatically warn of any product that contains them).

Advances in battery technology may some day allow cost-effective sensor-enabled RFID tags to be affixed to items to provide critical information to the consumer, from temperature-logging for perishable goods to shock-sensing for sensitive electronics and fragile items.

For many of these applications, NFC tags are the likely choice because users would want to discriminate easily among, say, closely spaced shelf tags or advertisements. They would have to be close to the tag to read it and, most likely, would have to make a conscious decision — or establish “rules” — to read tags.

That is one of the most important aspects of all these ideas — they put the reader, and therefore control, in the hands of the consumer. In other words, RFID would become another modern convenience for the consumer, not an intrusion into his or her privacy

Source: AIM

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