Attendee Tracking/Networking with RFID

Somethi;ng Labs develops physical and software-based interactive solutions, bridging technologies as diverse as the web, RFID, mobile phones, and live performances.

By Brian Albright

Using RFID tags embedded in personalized delegate badges, Just-b created a living map of the conference that could be used to track attendees.

UK-based Someth;ng Labs' aim is to explore emerging technologies and their relationship with people, and then design project applications that enhance the user's experience. The company's products range from websites, PDAs and mobile applications, and multimedia presentations to interactive installations.

Sheffield-based Just-b Productions wanted to find a way to improve interaction among attendees at its annual b.TWEEN conference (interactive media industry gathering in the UK) The company was looking for a unique, high-tech way to monitor attendee traffic at the event, as well as enhance the overall conference experience.

For its 2006 festival at the Museum of Film, Television and Photography in Bradford, the promoters wanted to find an innovative way for attendees to network, while providing Just-b with valuable data on conference session attendance and event traffic. The company released a competitive call for solutions, and selected what came to be known as the TimeLines system from Someth;ng Labs. TimeLines is a combination of social networking software and Wavetrend's active RFID hardware that allowed attendees to network and learn about each other, as well as create a real-time record of their own conference experience.

The TimeLines team, together with onsite staff, wired half a kilometer of cabling throughout the seven floors of the museum. They installed Wavetrend's W-series RFID hardware to create five tracking zones at the event. Using RFID tags embedded in each personalized delegate badge, Just-b created a living map of the conference that could be used to track attendees throughout the two-day event. Large display screens located in each of the venue's five main tracking zones showed live, automatic updates of each attendees' whereabouts using color-coded paths linked to photos and profiles of the corresponding delegates, all of which were provided and approved by the b.TWEEN attendees. This made it easy for individuals to connect and meet colleagues throughout the conference.

TimeLines also automatically created a digital scrapbook for each participant by recording his/her movements and the content of the conferences attended. Attendees were able to bookmark portions of the conference they found particularly interesting by pressing a button on their RFID badges. The system then created a link to the conference records that attendees could access later. These bookmarks would appear as dots on the display screens and would alert delegates to other attendees who had bookmarked similar comments, encouraging them to network and discuss their common interests. Following the event, delegates were able to log in to their secure profiles to review their activities and listen to the audio soundbites linked to their bookmarks. Delegates could also add their own perspectives of the event to the system by taking pictures on their camera phones and posting them via Bluetooth to the TimeLines server.

Attendees at the b.TWEEN conference

TimeLines provided attendees with an intimate and personal experience, as well as a record of the b.TWEEN event, and exposed many of them to RFID technology for the first time. Just-b received instant feedback on which sessions had the highest attendance, as well as insight into traffic patterns during the conference.

Someth;ng Labs has since redeveloped the system so that it can be utilized for any type of conference. Someth;ng Labs also improved the user interface and audio player, streamlined the registration process, and added live streaming and immediate archiving. Users can now listen to a live presentation from a remote location, as well as immediately review any presentation.

TimeLines has subsequently been deployed at the 2007 b.TWEEN event, as well as the Takeaway Festival, a "do-it-yourself" media conference at the Dana Centre in London. Using new WiFi-based Wavetrend L-RX1000 readers for the two most recent installations cut the set up time from one week to a single day, and greatly increased the flexibility of reader placement.

Katz Keily, CEO, Just-b Productions, says TimeLines twisted the concept of networking and made it fit with our audience. The project used RFID technology to help the attendees truly come together and connect at b.TWEEN. Its interactive capabilities encouraged the delegates to expand their social and business networks by identifying and matching their common interests and observations throughout the event.

Brian Albright is the Principal of Albright Communications and a Spectrum Marketing & Communications Associate. He can be reached at b-albright@sbcglobal.net.