http:\/\/www.theregister.co.uk\/2007\/01\/02\/rfid_in_toyko\/<\/a><\/p>\nThe Tokyo Ubiquitous Network Project has announced plans to blanket
\nthe Ginza region of Tokyo, the most popular shopping district, with
\n10,000 RFID tags and other wireless technologies to provide shopper-
\nassistance and location-based services.<\/p>\n
The trial starts later this month, and will feature a specially-
\ndesigned handheld equipped with RFID, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi
\nconnectivity. This handheld can rented by visitors, though the
\nvision is that the service should be available on compatible phone
\nhandsets.<\/p>\n
The thousands of RFID tags are used to identify where the user is;
\neach has a unique serial number which is sent to a central server
\nthat responds with local information and directions if required.<\/p>\n
The device will also automatically display special offers in nearby
\nshops, and give information about the various retailers in each of
\nthe many buildings in the area.<\/p>\n
The Tokyo Ubiquitous Network Project is a joint venture between the
\nJapanese government and various high-tech companies including
\nFujitsu, Hitachi and NEC, and has run smaller trials elsewhere as
\nwell as developing technologies and usage models. These trials will
\nrun until March.<\/p>\n
In these days of GPS, Galileo and triangulation systems it might
\nseem a retrograde step to simply place numbered tags around an area,
\nbut the technology has the advantage of being accurate and reliable,
\nas well as being ideally suited for a pedestrian population, and the
\nvisitors who are so frequently lost around Ginza.
\n===============================
\nARTICLE ENDS<\/p>\n
ADDITIONAL COMMENT FROM DEBITO:<\/b>
\nNote how the trial uses an optional handheld device rented by visitors equipped with IC tracking technology. So how about future applications for nonoptional IC Gaijin Cards? Once business gets involved, this could develop very quickly indeed. Ends\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Register IT site reports theTokyo Ubiquitous Network Project has announced plans to blanket Tokyo Ginza with 10,000 RFID tags and other wireless technologies to provide shopper-assistance and location-based services. The trial will utilize a handheld device rented by visitors equipped with IC tracking technology. This is optional. Future applications for nonoptional IC Gaijin Cards?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,4,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-151","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-immigration-assimilation","category-japanese-government","category-problematic-foreign-treatment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=151"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=151"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=151"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=151"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}