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Electronically Tagging
If people andhousehold products (eg food) were electronically tagged (eg using RFIDtechnology) it would be possible to track them around the house and tailor asystem to the needs of a particular individual. Discuss where this would bedesirable within the context of a disappearing interface and highlight possibleapplications.
In order torecognize people and objects easily, they are usually given names. This helpsone to identify a person or object immediately wherever they are in anyparticular vicinity. This naming process might be called a form of tagging. Thereason for this is the fact that tagging helps one identify a particular objector person, and hence, tagging is a kind of naming process as well.
What is tagging?
Tagging in itstrue and modernized term is a process through which one is able to identify and. The object is actually labeled digitally, and when there is asearch for it through electronic means there is no way that it cannot belocated or mistaken for another object. This is because of the fact thatelectronic tagging actually acts as a digital signature.
Radio FrequencyIdentification (RFID) Systems are electronic signatures that are growingpopular and are considered to be important. Though the system is expensive forevery store and common public facilities to make use of, it is still a prospectfor the future.
Considering thefact that the interface will disappear in the future, remote access is morelikely to take over. In this consideration, it might be asserted that thereshould be a means of tracking items that one needs to keep a count of. It hasbeen noted that there is difficulty in having to log in to an interface andtake a survey or inventory. In this case, the better way to do things would beto physically check items with the RFID.
How can the RFIDtagging be implemented?
The RFID method oftracking items is simple and can be easily implemented. The only problem withit at the moment is the cost factor. Aside from this, the process is simple.What one needs is a RFID code reader to identify the signals that thetransponders send from the item being checked, a proper functioning,windows-based Computer, and of course the placement of RFID transponders insideitems. It is important to set these transponders inside the items in order toget a signal from them. If the transponders are not placed inside, there is nochance of a signal being received by the RFID reader. The RFID transponder hasa small circuit inside it that allows the reader to pick up signals from it.When this happens, the item being checked is recorded through the reader andsaved on the computer (Feder, 2003). This system is believed to be applied tofood products as well. This enables one to have an inventory with food productsas well.
One might thinkthat this is not possible, but it certainly is as long as foods are packed. Onewould not be able to implement this system with unpacked foods because therewould probably be a risk of contamination. However, as long as foods are packedthis may be carried out effectively. This means that there isn't much that isleft out if edibles and non-edibles are encompassed by RFID technology.
Whether or not theInterface would entirely disappear in the light of RFID growing more popular isnot known yet. However, it can be asserted that there is a possibility of thishappening because of the fact that the users of the RFID technology do not usean interface. In fact, the interface that is used is located on the computerthat stores the information and not the devices (RFID readers) that are used toread the RFID signals (Feder, 2003).
The Multiple Usesof RFID Tagging:
There are manyareas in which this coding system could be employed, and this includes almostall institutions. It can be easily employed for the safety of children andpatients. In schools where children are small, and gate keepers and otherconcerned staff need to keep a track of all children, the RFID may be used. Itmay sound odd, but considering the fact that children need to be kept a trackoff it is an essential technology to implement.
In addition tokeeping track of students through the RFID, it must be said that hospitalscould also implement the system in order to keep track of patients. This isalso seen as a need here, and it should be employed as soon as possibleespecially in places where patients are liable to escape with treatment beingcompleted. Prisons too may implement that RFID system. By doing this, theywould be able to track each inmate, and note where s/he goes.
Employing such asystem in places like hospitals and prisons could mean more accuracy and fewerfalse alarms. This is because the system has the ability to detect when an itemis missing. When this is the case, a signal could be sent from the computer,where the information is stored, to the guards and other concerned personnel.The advantage that personnel are at is that they do not need to log in tointerfaces; they have their readers with them that help them to detectelectronic information on the spot (Feder, 2003).
It is this pointthat proves the diminishing effect of the user interface, and could wellreinforce the assumption that use interfaces will eventually disappear or atleast be minimized. In exchange of the user interface diminishing, the RFIDreader will probably be the device to grow in popularity. Certainly, this wouldbe the ideal instrument to use because of the fact that it is light and sendsinformation to a centralized system. In this way, more can be accomplished inquicker time. At the same time, speed tends to be lost in this process becauseof the fact that the RFID reader does not have a storage system for largeamounts of data. Hence it cannot detect if anything is missing straight away;it has to wait till the message is transferred to the main database and backagain for confirmation.
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