Today was the preconference for the 2012 RFID Journal Live show in Orlando … the show officially opens tomorrow. Although we didn’t get to see many exhibits today (the exhibit show floor was closed most of the day), I did have the opportunity to get a preview from NXP on their latest and greatest NFC applications.
NXP demonstrated an NFC application for home video game systems for the Wii and Xbox. This application enables the user to save game progress or change characters by simply placing an avatar figurine on an NFC accessory for the gaming system (see the picture below). The avatars and accessory have embedded NFC chips in them, which hold the gamer’s progress for that specific character. The figurines are capable of being used at other gamers houses as long as the NFC accessory is present, which means you can take your characters with you to play at other locations. Although limited to a specific game at this time, it could be easily developed for other character-based games. Cool factor … very high!
They also showed an authentication application for alcohol. The level of alcohol counterfeiting in some parts of the world is massive. For example, they stated that 80% of a specific wine brand in APAC was counterfeit, and in Europe, deaths actually occurred due to toxic counterfeit solutions being used. For this application, the NFC tag is embedded in the cap or seal of the bottle at the point of manufacture. Although this isn’t new and is actually mandated in specific markets such as Korea (for tax purposes), what is new is that the consumer can authenticate their purchase in the retail store by simply placing it on a countertop reader. Also new to this solution is the tamper proofing of the tag. Once the bottle is opened, the tag is ripped and will identify itself as being compromised. This provides the added protection from counterfeiting by preventing the refilling of brand bottles with counterfeit solutions.
More blogs to come as I get to see more of the show floor … stand by.
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