http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=27711
Dec 26, 2006Project Aims to Tag Tokyo Neighborhood with RFID
DEC 26, 2006 09:12:21 AM | Add Comment (0) | Permalink
A location-based services trial that will see a famous Tokyo
neighborhood blanketed with around 10,000 radio frequency
identification (RFID) tags and other beacons got its start earlier
this month.
The Tokyo Ubiquitous Network Project seeks to install RFID,
infrared and wireless transmitters throughout Tokyo’s Ginza area,
which is the most famous shopping area in the capital. The tags and
transmitters will provide location-related information to people
carrying prototype readers developed for the trial, said Ken
Sakamura, a professor at The University of Tokyo and the leader of
the project.
The system works by matching a unique code sent out by each beacon
with data stored on a server on the Internet. 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.
Sakamura envisages the system will be able to provide users with
basic navigation and information about the shops and stores in the
area in at least four languages: Japanese, English, Chinese and
Korean.
For example, bringing the terminal close to an RFID tag on a street
lamp will pinpoint the user’s location and the system will be able
to guide them to the nearest railway station while walking past a
radio beacon in front of a shop might bring up details of current
special offers or a menu for a restaurant.
"Ginza is the most famous shopping district in Japan," said Tokyo
Governor Shintaro Ishihara at an event to launch the project. "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!"
The terminal being used in the Ginza trial has been developed by
Tokyo’s Ubiquitous Computing Technology Center, which is a joint
venture between the Japanese government and some of the country’s
largest high-tech companies including Fujitsu, NEC, Hitachi and NTT
East.
It features a 3.5-inch organic light emitting diode (OLED) touch-
panel display and a host of networking interfaces. There is RFID,
infrared and 429MHz wireless for interacting with the beacons in
the trial, wireless LAN for connection to the Internet and a
Bluetooth link.
General trials in Ginza are scheduled to begin on Jan. 21 and will
run until March.
The project is supported by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and
Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MILT) and one of
several that currently taking place in Japan.
In one of the trials, RFID tags have been embedded in yellow
studded rubber tiles that are often put onto pavements as an aid to
blind or partially sighted people. An RFID reader at the tip of a
cane picks up the tags and a transmitter box mounted higher on the
cane sends the tag’s ID to the prototype terminal which gets
relevant information from the server. In a demonstration of the
system the terminal alerted the user that the pavement is coming to
an end but that there’s a ramp to the right and stairs to the left.
— Martyn Williams, IDG News Service (Tokyo Bureau)
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