Electronic Labeling

Breadcrumbs: The Future of Ubiquitous Computing --> Driving Forces: Technological Forces --> Electronic Labeling

Description

Electronic labels, so-called passive Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags, also operate without a built-in source of power – they collect the energy they require to operate from the magnetic or electro-magnetic field emitted by a reader device. Depending on their construction, these labels are less than a square millimeter in area and thinner than a piece of paper. What is interesting about such remote-inquiry electronic markers is that they enable objects to be clearly identified and recognized, and therefore linked in real time to an associated data record held on the Internet or in a remote database. This ultimately means that specific data and information processing methods can be related to any kind of object.

If everyday objects can be uniquely identified from a distance and furnished with information, this opens up application possibilities that go far beyond the original task of automated warehousing or supermarkets without cashiers. For example, an intelligent refrigerator may make use of the labels attached to bottles, which could be useful for minibars in hotel rooms. Even more intriguing are scenarios where prescriptions and drugs talk to a home medicine cabinet, allowing the cabinet to say which of those items should not be taken together, in order to avoid harmful interactions. In a similar manner, packaged food could talk to the microwave, enabling the microwave to automatically follow the preparation instructions. With the emerging Near Field Communication (NFC) standard, mobile phones and other handheld electronic devices will be able to read RFID labels at short distances. The goal is to enable users to access content and services in an intuitive way by simply touching an object that has a smart label.

Ref. Wireless Future: Ubiquitous Computing

Enablers

• RFID
• NFC
• IPv6

Inhibitors

• production costs
• incompatible standards
• privacy issues
• technological challenges in ensuring interlinked communications