- CHICAGO - We've all become
familiar with the Universal Product Code, that strip of thin black lines
found on practically every consumer product. In the works now from Motorola
is the Electronic Product Code.
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- Such "smart labels" have been around for a
while and used mainly to inventory pallets in warehouses or track the
progress
of huge shipping containers as they travel en route to their destinations.
But these systems, developed by companies such as Symbol Technology, have
been too expensive to produce on a massive scale such as one label for
every item on a supermarket shelf.
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- Cheap and Easy Technology
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- "We've got a technology that actually results in
the packaging of the chip being at basically its lowest possible cost by
its printed antenna," says Richard Krueger, Director of Business
Development
of the World Wide Smart Card Solutions Division of Motorola. "As the
box is going through the printer, through the press, I'm actually printing
an antenna. It's two patches of carbon ink," Krueger explained. What's
more, since the BiStatix label can be integrated into a printing process,
it's much easier to produce on ordinary items such as cereal boxes or
bottles
of mouthwash.
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- Krueger says product information can be accessed as
needed
with the convenience of wireless communications. "From distribution
down to retail, from retail into the consumer's hands, and then immediate
feedback of that information through sensors back to the supply chain to
replenish the shelf."
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- Beyond the Checkout
Counter
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- But the potential uses of the BiStatix label doesn't
stop once you leave the store. Since the embedded chip can store all sorts
of information, it could help make a consumer's life a little easier. A
frozen dinner with a smart label could transmit cooking instruction to
a microwave oven equipped with the appropriate radio receiver.
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- Krueger says the Bistatix chip could be integrated into
tickets for sporting events or theme parks as a way to thwart bogus
tickets.
"You get throughput improvement at the turnstiles, it's automated
and you would begin to cut down the counterfeit ticket
business."
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- Other possible uses for the new technology include
security
and event ticketing. "You can issue temporary passes to guests, to
contractors and provide them limited access," Krueger explains.
"There
would be a unique identification in the system that a particular recipient
of that badge or card is in the building at a certain time and
place."
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- Could an Electronic People Code be far behind?
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- ABCNEWS' Paul Eng contributed to this report.
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