A newly developed RFID technology was recently used by researchers from Disney research, Carnegie Mellon, and MIT to make low-cost interactive games. The discovery was used to create to create interactive objects that will not need a power source.
The researchers have found the way to increase the speed and accuracy of finding RFID tags that are wireless and has no battery. With this new discovery, they have created new objects that were interactive and used for different games. The different interactive toys that were created were an unpowered music synthesizer, wireless Pong controllers, and an interactive wood-block for a tic-tac-toe game.
According to the researchers' official report, the new process was done through the company's development of a system called RapID. This system is similar to RFID, but it has a faster recognition time. The researchers explained that the RFID readers usually take up to two seconds to read the tags on items, but the RapID can do it as little as 200 milliseconds.
According to PCMag, RFID stands for Radio Frequency Identification and it has been used to track different items like library books. This technology is similar to barcodes, which require a line of sight. The tags that use RFID had an issue, which was its latency issues and sensory limitations, and that made it impractical for tracking speed and real time location.
The new system called RapID has now solved the issue that RFID had. The researchers have created a software that enables the computer to accurately track and estimate where the tag is even though there is no signal.
The new interactive games that the researchers have created were used to demonstrate what their discovery could do. The Pong-like game made use of RFID-enabled wooden blocks that correspond to the on-screen paddles. Players needed to move the blocks to keep the ball afloat.
Batteries are not required with RFID tags and that is one of the best advantages of its tracking. The tags will only need power from the receivers, which is very convenient for trackers. With the help of this new software, this is a big step in turning RFID tags as a good solution in connecting devices.
Check out the RapID video below: