:: More on Wireless Shopping ::
My previous post on indoor wireless location received a comment from Ian Wood off of the Ecademy networking site that I recently joined (as a member of the WiFi Special Interest Group - SIG).
Ian brought to my attention a project in Germany called "Future Store", in particular the use of RFID technology. I checked it out....
I looked at Wincor-Nixdorf and other sites; it seems there are many players involved in the Future Store concept. I couldn't find anything in particular about wireless location technology being used, but Ian was right that RFID tags are involved (supported by IBM). Each product has an RFID tag attached to it. This facilitates finding product information by the customer and also allows product self-"scanning". It is a more convenient than using a laser scanning device.
In addition to RFID on the products, the price tags on the shelves, provided by NCR, are wirelessly connected via Spreadspectrum in the 2.4GHz band, though I presume not WiFi. The tags can be dynamically updated and can be used to display offers as well as general pricing information. The Future Store concept certainly seems an exciting one and to me it has so many possibilites and show that a highly connected future is not that far off.
11:39:27 AM 
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