Activity 33 (RFID Article of Interest)

Thought I'd post what I came up with for Activity 33 of Block 2 Part 3 study session 8, which is to find a recent article about RFID news, make short notes about it, then write about it and say why it's interesting - all in about 200 words!

Here it is...

An RFID News Article of Interest

My chosen article of interest concerns an ‘RFID-enabled’ climate lab exhibition at the Chabot Space & Science Centre, California. Its twelve child-orientated exhibits involve moveable parts, polls, and quizzes. Visitors wear an ID card with an embedded RFID chip. The exhibits all have an embedded reader, which collects the RFID chip IDs and sends them to the system software when the wearer earns ‘points’ by completing a solution.

The goal of exhibit visitors is to fill their RFID card with ‘solution’ points, which the system software adds up. Visitors can create a personal avatar, which appears on a video screen with their results. Visitors can also login to the exhibit website using some of the digits of their unique RFID card number, which is printed on the card as well as stored in the chip.

RFID was selected for this project because it is easier to use (i.e., just needs to be worn) than bar codes or swipe cards. Initial health concerns about ambient RF were removed when it was measured to be well below recommended exposure levels.

I found this article more interesting than others, because of the creative use of RFID tags: to encourage and enable children to complete educational activities and earn themselves ‘points’, rather then the more usual commercial asset or product tracking.

[217 words]

Reference:

O’Connor, M.C. (2010) ‘Chabot space & science center uses RFID to teach environmental science’ RFID Journal, [Online]. Available from: http://www.rfidjournal.com/article/view/8045/1 (Accessed December 2010)