The Internet of Things, the Auto-ID Utopia!

Posted on 16 August 2011

The concept isn’t new but is brilliant! Everything will have an Internet Protocol (IP) address, every fridge, kettle, painting, sofa, livestock animal, vehicle, you name it – everything. OK, more specifically, everything that can be uniquely identified by an RFID or NFC tag, (or even a 2d bar code) which when you think in Auto-ID terms encompasses almost everything.

Everything becomes traceable, uniquely identifiable and connectable. You’d be able to Google your WiFi connected fridge to see if you need to buy milk on the way home, connect to your boiler to increase the house temperature 30 minutes before you arrive and get the digital freesat recorder to record the first half of The One Show because you’ll be late. Or, if you don’t want the hassle, you’d use BBC iPlayer to replay it later. All this sounds very “Tomorrow’s World”, but the only thing that isn’t in place to make this happen is an affordable way of printing NFC tags…and yes if you’re a regular reader here you will know that I have written before about the need for lower cost tags.

Most homes and the majority of businesses are equipped with a wireless network and a broadband internet connection. By giving everything a unique IP address, you’ll be able to connect to anything from any internet connection. As with everything wireless, it would obviously be a good idea to install some security to discourage opportunistic enquiries from undesirables. Once tagged, asset management, product movement, supply logistics, insurance schedules, environmental control and product traceability become simple applications fed with accurate, machine readable data.

The missing link is affordable wireless (NFC) tags.

A privately owned UK company, Additive Process Technologies of Market Harborough, Leicestershire has come up with a possible solution as reported in NFC World. APT’s Allan Goodman is quoted in the article:

“Our process takes a lot of the cost out of the tag manufacturing process, taking away the plastic (inlay), the expensive conductive adhesive and expensive inks, using the lowest cost materials to produce a tag instead, in one efficient step.”

This sounds exactly like the breakthrough needed to bring the benefits of unique identification within economic range, i.e. less than 5 pence a tag, removing the last barrier to mass proliferation…price!

Once critical mass is achieved and NFC equipped mobile phones enable consumers to ‘read’ the tags electronically, applications will emerge to facilitate everything from electronic wallets to monitoring your heart through the NFC ‘patch’ stuck to your chest. Your mobile phone will become the key to your car, your front door and will act as your proof of identity for benefit or taxation purposes, all protected by biometric, finger print or iris recognition via the inbuilt digital camera.

With everything uniquely tagged it will be much easier for police to identify goods stolen by looters/thieves, giving the Courts irrefutable evidence of guilt. The potential benefits to manufacturers tracing a batch of products with a faulty component, or determining the maintenance history of an air conditioning plant, would be considerable. Even established bar code applications, like the NHS blood bag marking, livestock, “farm to fork” and food traceability applications could be significantly developed and enhanced to eliminate manual keying errors.

UTOPIA! Well it is to an Auto-ID evangelist like me.

Do you think we’ll ever get to the stage where everything is tagged or is it a pipedream?  Feel free to leave a comment below. Or, alternatively if you’d like to discuss a possible deployment of a solution for your business, drop me an email or call the office on +44 (0)845 345 0808.