Tuesday, November 11. 2008

RFID-based Social Networking - for Dogs and their Humans

It's called a SNIF Tag and it comes out of SNIF Labs, a company formed by grads of MIT's Media Lab. The idea:

The tag itself – a small device that attaches to a dog’s collar – essentially records the pet’s movements and, in some cases, social encounters, and then uploads that data to the Internet. An owner can find out by logging onto the company’s site whether their dog has been playing, resting or running around.

The tag, $300, or $200 is bought now online, uses active RFID/accelerometer and base stations (your computer) to determine the dog's activities and if its been frolicking with its dog buddies. That data is uploaded to a secure site where the dog's human can see what he did all day. Ideally, it allows for a pair or more of dogs' people to hook up. The first year of full service comes with the tag. It's $89/year after that.

I'm not a dog person, but I know dog people and how they like other dog people. And, I have to believe in rural areas where dogs roam free (not my city) this would be fun. And, with just active RFID, the tag will not help find Rover if he's lost.

- TMCNet.com