Apr 17, 2013Kiss99, a wedding services provider based in Taiwan, has been using EPC Gen 2 passive ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) RFID technology to track its thousands of wedding garments for several years. So when a young couple visited the company seeking new innovation that would bring excitement to their Apr. 9 wedding, Kiss99 already had the solution on hand. In response, the company provided applications that it developed using radio frequency identification technology supplied by EPC Solutions Taiwan. The couple, Mr. and Mrs. Sky Chang, utilized the solution to announce the names of guests as they entered the wedding reception hall. EPC Solutions provided the tags, readers and software that managed the RFID tag reads.
The solution consisted of a UHF tag embedded in each of 700 wedding invitations. Guests utilized those RFID-enabled invitations to not only be greeted upon arrival, but also find their seats and participate in a contest at the reception.
Earlier this year, Chang and his bride-to-be met with Sky99 to rent garments for their wedding, and were looking for new ideas for their reception. They had a relatively large wedding planned, the company reports, and wanted it to be memorable. Kiss99 rents thousands of wedding garments and accessories, ranging from bridal gowns to veils, jewelry, men's suits and bridesmaid dresses (Taiwanese bridal parties typically rent their garments rather than buying them outright), explains Sophia Sun, Kiss99's director. To track which items have been rented, returned, laundered or reserved, the company has been employing an RFID-based system, provided by EPC Solutions Taiwan, for the past three years.
Sewn into each item is an EPC Gen 2 passive RFID tag containing an Alien Technology Higgs-3 chip. Sky99 installed an Alien ALR-9900 fixed reader at its counter to interrogate the tags of garments and accessories as they were rented out or returned, and uses a Quintet Digital C39 handheld to read tags on garments displayed on the hangers within its showroom, or stored in its back room. Kiss99 has its own software application to store data regarding each garment, linked to the unique ID number encoded to that item's tag. That information includes the manufacturing data, the identities of those who have rented it in the past, when those past rentals occurred, and the dates on which the garment was last sent to be laundered and was then returned, as well as any dates on which it may have been reserved by a client.
This data can not only help Kiss99's staff manage data about each garment, but also assist clients in deciding which garments to rent. For example, if a specific dress had previously been worn by a celebrity at her wedding, this information might provide further enticement for a new bride and groom to choose it. Kiss99's personnel can look up this information in the software, but can also use the handheld device to read the details while speaking with a customer. If another party has reserved a particular garment, the staff will also learn that status upon reading the garment's tag, ensuring that the company does not double-book the item.
Kiss99 and the Changs decided that the same technology could be used to make the wedding fun. Each guest received an invitation with the embedded Alien RFID tag encoded with a unique ID number linked to that invited individual or couple. Guests could then log on to the Web site hosted by Kiss99, at which they could not only RSVP, but also upload photos of themselves. In addition, they could input or record personal messages congratulating the bride and groom.
Upon arriving at the reception hall, visitors presented their invitations to an Alien ALR-9900 reader wired to a computer and a 60-inch TV monitor. The interrogator captured each invitation's tag ID and forwarded that data to a computer running EPC Solutions software, which linked the ID to the name of the invited individual or couple and their photograph, and displayed that photo on the monitor, while also playing an audio recording welcoming the guests by name.
After passing through the doors, the guests then proceeded to a "seat-finder kiosk." The kiosk's video screen instructed the attendees to present their invitations to the Alien ALR-9650 reader built into the kiosk, which read the invitation's tag ID number once more. Based on the ID, software provided by EPC Solutions then determined where that individual or group should be seated, and the kiosk's screen displayed instructions enabling them to seat themselves.
The invitations were again used later during the party, for a game known as "the right man." An ID number, randomly picked from the attending guests, was input into an Alien ALH-9001 handheld reader. The groom then walked among the tables holding the device, while guests waved their invitations in the air. Upon pinpointing the winning ID number, the handheld emitted an audible tone and lit up, and the winner was then identified and given a gift.
T.H. Liu, EPC Solutions Taiwan's president, says that based on guest responses, the technology provided the excitement that the newlyweds had been hoping for. Kiss99 is currently evaluating that response to determine whether it will introduce radio frequency identification as an option to other wedding parties in the future. "Since this is the first time using RFID through the whole wedding process," he states, "Kiss99 will review and see what is next."
