RFID Aesthetics
Dois posts sobre RFID, continuando o que apontamos em outro post, sobre questões estéticas e de privacidade relativas a esses “spychips”.
Agora post do The Register mostra que os RFID podem também matar:
“Researchers in the Netherlands have discovered that RFID systems, intended for tracking hospital kit, can fatally interfere with life-support systems from a distance of 30 centimetres. The tests were pretty rigorous: 41 different devices from 22 manufacturers were each tested against passive and active RFID systems. The passive system, operating at 868MHz, generated problems in 26 devices, while the active system, sitting at 125kHz, only affected 8 of them.
It’s not entirely surprising that passive tags generate more interference, as such systems require the reader to generate an electromagnetic field that can be used to power the tag. But it is surprising that the tags generate any interference at all, since they are supposed to be entirely benign to other electronics, and one would hope that critical equipment would be adequately shielded.
The research is to appear in the Journal of the American Medical Association in an editorial, written by the president of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement Dr. Donald Berwick, which calls for immediate action:
“Attention must be paid to these disturbing findings … It seems that hospitals, regulators, and manufacturers certainly have some immediate work to do including examining whether similar problems are occurring in hospital critical care units”.
Enquanto elas não matam, podemos olhá-las com outros olhos e ver a beleza de seus padrões. Post da PingMag mostra o uso estético das etiquetas RFID durante a RFID Expo em Tóquio. Nesse post da revista japonesa, o que vemos são destaques dos padrões formais dessas etiquetas. Vejam alguns exemplos tirados do post da PingMag:
“RFID – or radio-frequency identification… we’ve heard of that before. Now, while strolling the booths at the RFID Expo that just took place at Tokyo’s Big Sight, we began wondering what RFID is used for best: as a button on a chef’s uniform to let him open the kitchen door; as an infant’s bracelet for a motion detector; embedded in boxes to trace its contents on their way across the globe or inside price tags in department stores to calculate the sales. Ah, well, if you just keep standing in front of the chip displays, you start to make out figures and characters of their shapes, wondering who came up with these fascinating structures… Instead of delving into new technology, this time PingMag takes a closer look at the appearance of RFID transponders.”
Picture Frame for Geeks
OK, the shape of this Rafsec Tag isn’t that peculiar, but hey, its high frequency (HF) is in use worldwide. A typical high frequency would be 13,56 MHz. HF systems are widely used in libraries, mass transportation (think SUICA and PASMO train cards) and product authentication applications. Capacity: 1024 bits! Depending on the usage, this HF tag either comes as non-adhesive inlay, die-cut web with adhesive, filmic face (for wet inlay,) or in a tag with a paper face. Stylish.
Weather Satellite
This multi-frequency inlay code-named AD-612 by Avery Dennison has the usual 860-960 MHz frequency – and an utterly space age shape! We wonder which sci-fi scientist came up with this sketch-like design that resembles an orbitting satellite.
Next Season’s Jewellery
Blinded by this glimmering gold, we get that this one isn’t exactly brand new, but still a nice sight; the high frequency Tag-it HF-I Plus Transponder Inlay by Texas Instruments goes by the standard 13,56 MHz and has a 2 Kb memory to store your precious data. This wafer is inked, ground and sewn onto tape. Nice sewing job!
The Labyrinth
Oh, a little squiggle! This fancy-looking UHF operates between 860 and 960 MHz. Said to be ideal for item level tagging of plastic packaging such as pill bottles and apparel tags. So this is already in use at your local department store. Also featuring near-field and far-field communication. So talkative!”