Day dreaming an RFID future

I've been reading stuff on applications of RFID technology in supply chain visibility. For the uninitiated, RFID stands for Radio Frequency Identification... it's a microchip that replaces the barcode on products and can be tracked and identified by RF sensors. Each item has a unique code on its RFID chip and a retail store, for instance, can not only automatically keep track of the shelf-stock and inventory, but also track it online while it's transported from the manufacturer or warehouse to the store itself.

Read more in "RFID Supply Chain Revolution" by Gavin Chappell, Logistics & Transport Focus (November 2002)

RFID is already a decently affordable technology that holds promise of enormous benefits for businesses. Wal-Mart is in the process of RFID-ing all its stores and it's revolutionising the chain's retail operations across US.

What if we were to extend the concept further, to the demand chain, and build intelligent products and applications around it. Imagine the RFID future:

You enter Haiko (a local supermarket), pick up a few items, leave the supermarket. The items will de-register themselves from the store's stock as you go through the checkout gate, and you swipe your credit card yourself on a VISA machine. Better still, put an RFID on the credit card and you don't even have to take it out of your wallet.

The store's information system automatically sends info to VISA and withdraws the sum from your credit account. Some light turns green two seconds later to signal a successful transaction, the bill appears on your mobile phone and/or in an email message from your card issuer.

Then take the items home and put them in your refrigerator. The refrigerator will warn you if you are are running out of something. If you have "subscribed" it, it will automatically put it on your shopping list and order a home delivery. Or, if you are in the super market and want to know what you need, just use your phone to ask your refrigerator.

Enter a movie hall. If you have reserved you will be guided to your seat automatically. If not, you will be automatically billed going through a gate, using the same mechanism as Haiko.

At present, an RFID chip costs 5 to 10 cents to manufacture. RF sensors and other infrastructure are a bit expensive, and not every store has pockets as deep as Wal-Mart. But the most challenging issue that's holding the technology back is lack of standardisation and cross-platform operatibility. It is expected that once this issue is sorted out, widespread implementation will bring manufacturing scales and drastically reduce implementation costs. The RFID dream might come true in some time.

Wanna Startup?