RFID Lets People Talk to the Touchwall

While Kaufman notes that many of his clients have already approached him to begin discussions regarding the Touchwall and how they might use it, nothing in the way of a pilot program or other test has yet been scheduled. Ultimately, he says, consumers will determine the success of such a system within a retail setting.

At the Cannes event, the Touchwall was a hit, Kaufman reports. Upon seeing their names and avatars pop up, many attendees immediately asked colleagues to take photos of them standing next to the screen.

"People's reaction tended to be delight or disbelief," Kaufman states. "A fair amount of people said, 'How does it know who I am?' We'd encourage them to look inside their badge holders, and then [we'd] explain how the RFID tag works. They were really impressed. Most of these people, being in the marketing industry, had heard of RFID, but they had never seen it work."

That said, there is a significant difference between interacting with a system that displays one's name in a setting of one's peers, and doing so in a public place, such as a store. In Cannes, attendees wore badges printed with their names and headshots, so anonymity was impossible. Many consumers have expressed concerns that RFID might be misused in a manner that would invade their privacy, and consequently, some might feel uncomfortable carrying loyalty cards with embedded RFID tags. Nonetheless, a number of retailers have found their customers to be receptive to the concept (see Coffee Republic Brews Up RFID Loyalty Cards, RFID Is TOP Priority for Store Loyalty Cards, French Jean Boutique Adopts RFID to Boost Loyalty and Dairy Queen Serves Up Personal Discounts With RFID).

This video shows the Touchwall in action:

Touchwall Demo from Joel on Vimeo.

If you are unable to view the above video, please click here.