Ginza Gets Tagged – 10,000 RFID Tags in Tokyo Neighborhood

December 27, 2006
Ginza Gets Tagged - 10,000 RFID Tags in Tokyo Neighborhood

At Computerworld, IDG's Martyn Williams reports on a trial of approximately 10,000 RFID tags and other beacons throughout Tokyo's Ginza neighborhood. Throughout the trial, which will run from January to March, the tags will serve location-related info to people carrying prototype readers.

"The system works by matching a unique code sent out by each beacon with data stored on a server on the Internet," Williams writes. "The data is obtained automatically by the terminal, which communicates back to the server via a wireless LAN connection and requests the data relevant to the beacon that is being picked up."

"Ginza is the most famous shopping district in Japan," says the (frequently offensive) Tokyo governor Shintaro Ishihara. "In every building there are many shops, bars and clubs, and it can be difficult to find the one you want. With this, you can just push a button and find the where you want to go, even if you're drunk!"

More here from Engadget.


This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 27th, 2006 at 11:13 am and is filed under RFID. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

One Response to “Ginza Gets Tagged – 10,000 RFID Tags in Tokyo Neighborhood”

  1. Eugene said:

    Feb 02, 07 at 7:18 pm

    This is an interesting project combining Wi Fi, Bluetooth, Internet and RFID technologies in a lifestyle application for the general public in with multi-lingual support for tourists. It’s a bold effort to push the envelope and test knowledge from lab to a real life scenario outside of normal supply chain and manufacturing environments. Worth a look at. The trial ends in March.

    If you’re serious about RFID and would like to find out about the results and meet the man heading the project, Professor Ken Sakamura from Tokyo University will be presenting this case as a distinguished speaker at the RFID World Asia 2007 executive conference.

    RFID World Asia 2007 is the region’s largest gathering of RFID practitioners and related professionals coming together to promote responsible RFID adoption and development with an emphasis on achieving quick ROI and sustainable business value. This premier conference and expo will be held in Singapore – April 25 – 27.

    To find out more visit:
    http://www.terrapinn.com/2007/rfidwa_SG/

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