RFID Plays Matchmaker at Conferences

Wizard Studios will rent the badges either to event managers or to companies attending the conference, at a rate of $10 for one-day use, $12.50 for two days or $15.50 for three. The firm intends to offer the technology to dating-service providers as well, for singles social events, Brumfield says, and will call the RFID system RadarLove, to help singles meet those with similar interests, and then locate them using their SmartBadge.

Badge2Match's Onno Bos

Badge2Match has been providing the system in the Netherlands, as well as in France, Germany and China, since 2008, with 1,000 badges typically used at any given event. Before each conference, Bos says, the company's staff configures the system and tests it, by answering the questionnaire, setting up a simulated conference environment, and determining if matches are properly captured, based on the questionnaire responses. This is necessary, he notes, since every event has a different set of questions, and thus different response matches that must be accommodated.

In Europe, Bos says, where Badge2Match charges about €12 ($17) per day per badge, the system has been well received. "People find it makes the event more interactive, and more fun," he states. "It's a great icebreaker, and you can leave a conference with great contacts."

Bromfield predicts the solution will also be popular among users in the United States, where Wizard Events manages around 2,000 events every year.

In addition, Bos says, the solution could be utilized to track attendees' movements, by attaching "sniffer beacons" (Vitelec readers) to walls, pillars or ceilings to capture RF signals from badges within their vicinity. Although such beacons have yet to be used, he says, they could store attendee-related data transmitted by the SmartBadges, and then be plugged into a computer via a USB cable to upload data to the Badge2Match server, where the collected information could be interpreted and made available to an end user.