Apr 25, 2014With a focus on growth, global security technology company Identiv has secured a $20 million loan to retire debt and create liquidity of funds for its anticipated acceleration in delivering what it calls "trust for everyday items," in the form of EPC Gen 2 ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) and high-frequency (HF) Near Field Communication (NFC) RFID technology production. The firm has launched a new marketing campaign known as "Trust Your World" (Identiv asserts that trust is fundamental to identity), featuring its Identiv Trust Services (ITS) platform of solutions, including passive UHF and HF RFID tags for use in personnel, consumer and asset identity-management systems across a broad spectrum of industries, such as retail, logistics and health care.
Since it was founded in 2007, the company has obtained 120 global patents on its technology, including those related to transponders and software, according to Louis Modell, Identiv's VP of sales in the Americas. Identiv manufactures a broad range of passive RFID tags and readers in a variety of form factors, including cards, keyfobs, labels and stickers. While the company previously marketed only RFID hardware, Identiv's ITS platform consists of complete solutions with software to collect and analyze read data.
One user of Identiv's NFC tags is HealthID Inc., a two-year-old company that is marketing an NFC-based solution for managing information related to chronic disease management. The system consists of a wristband or ID card with a built-in Identiv NFC tag encoded with a unique ID number that is linked to a user's health information in HealthID's software, residing on the company's server. Emergency responders and other health-care providers can read that tag ID via an NFC-enabled phone in order to access the individual's health history.
The system also includes an application that users can download on their phone or tablet for use in helping with chronic conditions, by managing their taking of medications or monitoring other health-related tasks they must perform daily.
Angelo Pitassi Jr. founded HealthID when one of his children was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. At the time, he found that there were not many options to share data related to his son's health, or to manage information regarding his condition and medications.
HealthID works this way: A user purchases the wristband or card, and then logs into the company's website to input personal health information. The user can select which types of data should be shared with anyone equipped with an NFC reader. If he or she then requires emergency care, or simply reports to a hospital or clinic, the health-care provider can use an NFC-enabled device to read the tag (without requiring an app) and that device will then be directed to the HealthID website that lists data about that patient. If the health-care provider does not have an NFC reader, an employee must log directly into HealthID's website and input the ID number printed on that patient's wristband to obtain the same information.
Identiv and HealthID are currently working on next-generation version of the card and wristband that will be entirely manufactured by Identiv. It will include not only an NFC tag but also a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacon. In this case, it can transmit signals to a phone or tablet to trigger a reminder, via an app, for an individual regarding an action he or she should be taking, such as confirming that medications are being taken at the proper frequency. The new wristband will also come with an accelerometer to measure an individual's activity level. It can forward that data via NFC or BLE to the user's own phone or tablet, which would use the app to determine the amount of activity for a given period of time, and then issue an alert and prompt the wristband to vibrate if the wearer should, for example, become more active to ensure weight loss or to keep diabetic symptoms in check.
Identiv also offers its technology to gaming companies, for embedding in figurines used with video games. In addition, its NFC tags are being affixed to brush heads used with a face-cleansing system to verify, before a brush can be operated, that it is authentic for use with a particular product.
