Future of Engineering
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Social Networking Wireless Monitoring - RFID Ecosystem Project
If you are searching for some information, there is of course Google. But if you’re hunting down a person, a computer is not much help. This may soon change, thanks to some experiments being conducted at universities in the US that explore the concept of trackable humans.
Walk around the University of Washington's (UW) computer science building and eventually you will cross paths with a researcher whose every movement is tracked by computer. Two hundred RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) antennas have been fitted into the ceilings, and individuals taking part in the trial wear RFID tags round their necks and on their possessions. Volunteers will wear electronic tags on their clothing and belongings, enabling RFID readers to monitor their whereabouts. Their location is followed in real time, but unlike many Orwellian deployments of such technology - where hidden overseers know what we're all doing, but individuals don't - each participant in the RFID Ecosystem can also access the data
This social networking+RFID pilot project has commenced in March, 2008 at the University. The RFID Ecosystem project will provide long-term, in-depth research of user-centered RFID systems in relation to fields such as society and technology.
"What if RFID readers were everywhere, and everything had RFID tags? What are the pluses and minuses? What do you do with all that data?" asks Gaetano Borriello, Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at the University. One of the main questions this research faces is whether or not the utility aspect of this monitoring system outweighs the participants' potential loss of privacy.
Two additional features are being tested in this project; the first is a tool that records the volunteer's movements in Google Calendar; the second is the RFIDder – a friend finder that sends e-mails or text messages to approved people indicating the whereabouts of their monitored friends. In addition, the system links to Twitter.
More information about the RFID Ecosystem project can be found on the RFID section of UW here and the project news page.
Via TFOT
Walk around the University of Washington's (UW) computer science building and eventually you will cross paths with a researcher whose every movement is tracked by computer. Two hundred RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) antennas have been fitted into the ceilings, and individuals taking part in the trial wear RFID tags round their necks and on their possessions. Volunteers will wear electronic tags on their clothing and belongings, enabling RFID readers to monitor their whereabouts. Their location is followed in real time, but unlike many Orwellian deployments of such technology - where hidden overseers know what we're all doing, but individuals don't - each participant in the RFID Ecosystem can also access the data
This social networking+RFID pilot project has commenced in March, 2008 at the University. The RFID Ecosystem project will provide long-term, in-depth research of user-centered RFID systems in relation to fields such as society and technology.
"What if RFID readers were everywhere, and everything had RFID tags? What are the pluses and minuses? What do you do with all that data?" asks Gaetano Borriello, Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at the University. One of the main questions this research faces is whether or not the utility aspect of this monitoring system outweighs the participants' potential loss of privacy.
Two additional features are being tested in this project; the first is a tool that records the volunteer's movements in Google Calendar; the second is the RFIDder – a friend finder that sends e-mails or text messages to approved people indicating the whereabouts of their monitored friends. In addition, the system links to Twitter.
More information about the RFID Ecosystem project can be found on the RFID section of UW here and the project news page.
Via TFOT
Labels: Electronics-Communications-Engineering, Society
PermaLink - Social Networking Wireless Monitoring - RFID Ecosystem Project posted by Ecacofonix : 4:43 AM
