[Gllug] Re: RFID and GPS CF cards under Linux

[Ian Norton]

Richard Jones wrote:

>I'm particularly interested in people who've got RFID card readers
>working under Linux.  Such as these ones:
>
>http://www.skyetek.com/readers.html
>http://www.cfcompany.co.jp/product/fujii/rfid_cf_reader.html
>
>I know RFID is the Big Bad Wolf, but actually there are some very
>useful applications for it.
>
>One which we've thought of (which I'll post here to provide a bit of
>verified prior art and avoid some idiot patenting it):
>
>Slap RFID tags around public places such as tube stations.  Each RFID
>tag "emits" a unique number, identifying the location.
>
>Blind people can carry simple iPod-like technology containing an RFID
>reader.  When the reader comes close to an RFID tag at a particular
>location, this triggers an audio message to be read to them, telling
>them their location and where they can go to (eg. "You are in the
>hallway at Tottenham Ct Rd tube station.  Walk away from the escalator
>and on the left you will find the Northern Line northbound platform").
>
>The audio messages are stored in a big database on the iPod itself.  A
>top-end iPod can carry about 100,000 such messages, enough to cover
>the whole of a big city like London.
>
>Update over the Internet.
>
>The advantage here is that it's very simple and cheap to "upgrade" the
>accessibility of a particular location.  RFID tags cost next to
>nothing, and recording the audio messages can be done via a simple web
>interface.  The real cost is bourne by the users (the blind people) in
>small chunks - a typical reader device probably wouldn't cost more
>than twice the cost of an iPod.
>
>There's another application that we're consulting on at the moment
>which also involves putting the RFID tags on locations, rather than on
>things.
>
>Rich.
>  
>
This does sound pretty cool :-P

maybe an ipaq with a microdrive might be better suited as i doubt you 
will be able to buy an ipod with wifi or RFID interrogators any time soon,
it could even use wireless hotspots to the same effect.

Ian
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