Taking your idea one step further, Jon, the response could be time-based. For example, if you are standing in front of a product for a certain period of time, it might be assumed that you are considering / comparing the product. Spitting out a discount on the one the store would prefer you buy could push you over the edge.
Hi, Greg. Stores can use near-field communications (NFCs) to communicate "coupon" information to a smart phone with NFC capabilities. By using a passive NFC "tag," a store could post discounts, special deals, and other information right by a product. A touch with a smart phone would transfer the information to the shopper's phone. Stores and VISA have started to install NFC devices for payments at point-of-sale terminals, so extending NFC to coupons wouldn't take much--probably an app for your favorite stores.
Affinity cards already track consumer information. Beware, though, I have heard some insurance companies want (or already have) access to shopping information. Thus they can assess risks by examining what insurance buyers purchase. If you go heavy on fatty or sweet foods, you might get a poor rating for life insurance. You never know the uses to which companies use, lease, or barter information they gather from you.
Other than the lost child capability that the article mentions, I'm afraid I don't see much use for this, either. A few years ago, there was a company called Applied Digital Solutions that was making security chips for tracking. As I recall, one of their big applications was in Central America, where kidnappings were commonplace. The technology described here would do some of the same things, but I don't know how big that market could possibly be.
Hi, Nadine. Thanks for your comments. I agree with you about tracking kids and gave more info in a reply to Beth. Back in the 1950's, the Museum of Natural History in New York City rented small radio receivers people could carry from exhibit. A short-range wireless transmitter gave a description of the nearby display. That was cool at the time and museums could use some sort of location-detection arrangement to provide similar information, perhaps via Bluetooth to a headset. But I don't think anyone would need to know an absolute location within the museum.
You have a good point about young shoppers who seem to travel with a cell phone attached to their heads. We'll just have to see how the position information applications shake out. For better, I hope.
I predict another use will also be for marketing folks to track targeted potential spenders and send them a text message coupon as they approach a certain store.
Good point about tracking kids, Beth. There are some GPS kid-tracking watch-like modules available that report a child's position. When I researched this topic several years ago I found a company that has a tamper-proof watch that includes a panic button a kid could push in case of emergency. Wish I could remember the company's name.
How we choose to use it makes a positive or negative for society. Indoor tracking/navigation apps can be VERY useful for locating lost children as the article mentioned. It could be a great tool for musuems and historic sites.
Younger shoppers enjoy receiving information or deals on their smart phones. That's how they shop. Many retailers depend on impulse buys to stay in the black. For those with limitied mobility, having an app to turn on lights in the home could be life changing.
The evolution of these apps can be great if we (consumers) use common sense and they (corporations) just stick to "not being evil".
I'm with you, Jon. I'm not so sure we need any set of technology to track our every location. I like the idea of the indoor GPS for tracking kids' locations, though. I know they have cell phones, but I know my teens/tweens are notorious for not having their cells on when you need them to.
For 3D printing to make the jump from rapid prototyping to manufacturing, engineers will need to find easier ways to move products from their CAD screens to their printers.
Gigabit and PoE are two networking technologies moving ahead in tandem as industrial users power remote Ethernet devices such as IP security cameras at 1,000 Mbps over existing CAT5 cable.
New versions of BASF's Ecovio line are both compostable and designed for either injection molding or thermoforming. These combinations are becoming more common for the single-use bioplastics used in food service and food packaging applications, but are still not widely available.
From Dell / Intel® New Paradigms in Design Work Scott Hamilton, vertical market strategist for Dell Precision workstations, 5/2/2013 5
Early in my career, I worked as a draftsman and remember the days of drawing on vellum with numbered pencils and Mylar with plastic lead. This was a fun experience in the sense that I ...
I've been using workstations for more than 10 years and love finding ways to get more performance from my system. With demanding professional applications that require more power each ...
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For industrial control applications, or even a simple assembly line, that machine can go almost 24/7 without a break. But what happens when the task is a little more complex? That’s where the “smart” machine would come in. The smart machine is one that has some simple (or complex in some cases) processing capability to be able to adapt to changing conditions. Such machines are suited for a host of applications, including automotive, aerospace, defense, medical, computers and electronics, telecommunications, consumer goods, and so on. This radio show will show what’s possible with smart machines, and what tradeoffs need to be made to implement such a solution.
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