Institute For The Future

NEW Memo: RFID: Smart Homes & Sociable Devices

 This memo (SR-926D) describes how RFID will become of part of daily live for consumers, first in health and security applications, and then as they begin to experiment with personalized applications such as home management and tracking important personal items. Ultimately, RFID will be one of the technologies that bring pervasive computing from the computer laboratory into the home. From 2008, the emergence of pervasive computing; the appearance of cheap, ubiquitous RFID tags; and the ability of users to make their own tags and readers will create two new dynamics. First, RFID systems will become instruments for delivering content, entertainment, and education. Second, people will reinvent RFID. Users will create and share applications and services using the technology; providing an example of creative destruction and technological evolution at its messiest—and its best.