Tags Lead the Way for Blind in EU-Funded Pilot

The other two RFID-enabled paths are in a northern Italian regional park called Prealpi Giulie, where 10 individuals are testing the path with the custom-designed canes. One is a 600-meter-long nature trail in the park's Pian dei Ciclamini section, while the other is located at an information center housed in one of the park's hostels. The nature trail had already been equipped with signs in Braille. The text on each of those signs was recorded for the RFID pilot, and is played back for people passing RFID transponders buried near the signs. The path within inside the hostel is designed so blind guests can use the audio signals and prerecorded information to orient themselves.

A total of 2,500 tags were embedded in the project's three pathways. Sironi says it cost under €100,000 ($148,280) to build the system, but that the expenses would have been much higher were it not for some creative recycling of RFID tags. The SESAMONET project recycles tags compliant with the ISO 11784 and 11785 standards and originally used to track livestock. The tags, designed to be swallowed by animals and remain in their bodies throughout their lives, are removed at the slaughterhouse. Due to health codes, the tags can not be reused on other animals.

SESAMONET user components consist of a walking cane, earphone and PDA.

Beginning next year, the European Union will enact a law requiring all livestock intended for slaughter in the EU to be given one of these tags. That will generate 50 million tags each year, providing a ready supply of tags for SESAMONET and other programs that might need to use them for purposes other than tracking livestock. Aside from being readily available, the 125 kHz tags are well suited for the guided-path application because they work well when covered with water or snow.

Costs related to the tags came from cleaning them (to remove a strong odor acquired while inside the animal) and shipping. Costs associated with burying the tags—which came to €2,000 ($2,965) for the Laveno Mombello project—would be considerably lower if the system were installed when walkways and roads were newly constructed.

Project partners spent about €25,000 ($37,060) developing the first 10 cane readers with a partner company in France. With prototyping complete, the second set of 10 cost about €6,000 ($8,900)—or €600 ($890) apiece. Sironi says he expects the cost per cane to eventually drop to a few hundred euros.

According to Sironi, the project partners needed extra time to find the proper material for the cane—they ultimately decided on plastic—and to tune the antenna at the cane's tip. "We had to adjust the antenna in such a way so that it could read the transponder but ignore whatever else was in the ground, such as steel and cables," he explains. The PDAs and earpieces cost €200 to €400 ($297 to $593) each.