German startup company MotionID Technologies has developed a system that it envisions could change the way people purchase goods and services, using RFID tags attached to a car’s windshield to pay for parking as well as paying for hamburgers at a drive-through, or services at a carwash, or gas station. The same technology could also be used by rental car agencies to manage the parking of vehicles. Initially, MotionID’s ViaTag system, developed with help from the Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics, where the technology was tested, is in use by parking lots in northern Germany.
The ViaTag system consists of two tags—both capable of conducting financial transactions. Users can sign up for the service by visiting the ViaTag Web site and receiving a EPC 2 passive UHF RFID windshield sticker. They can also receive a ViaTag Pacc plastic card with a built-in high-frequency (HF) 13.56 MHz passive RFID tag complying with the ISO 14443 standard. Each sticker and card has a unique ID number that is linked to data provided by the user during the sign-up process.
The windshield sticker is attached to a car, while the Pacc, the size of a credit card, is designed for use by a consumer when not inside the car. For example, if driving a car other than the one fitted with a windshield tag, a driver can use the Pacc card for parking or other services involving the untagged vehicle. In addition, the driver could park in a mall’s parking lot, leave the car, and visit a store, where he would present his Pacc card, have it read in order to link it to parking validation so that he would not be charged a parking fee when he leaves the mall.
The solution has been under development and then tested for several years, says Christian Utz, MotionID’s CEO. The initial concept was a system that would make car parking easier, without requiring the driver to open a window or come to a full stop at a parking lot security gate. Instead of retrieving a paper ticket upon arrival and then handing that ticket over upon exiting, along with providing a credit card or cash, the driver would simply approach the gate, where a fixed reader would capture her ID and automatically raise the gate to allow her to proceed..
MotionID developed a windshield tag in a variety of form factors, depending on the type and orientation of a vehicle’s windshield. For example, a sports car would use a different tag than a small economy car or large limousine. Each tag is made with an NXP Semiconductors chip encoded with an encrypted unique ID number that is linked to data about the user in MotionID’s Parking software on a Web-based server.
The greatest hurdle for a such a system is ensuring there is no security risk, says Utz. The German public, more than that of the United States or Asia, he says, is concerned with privacy and the risk of data being obtained by thieves. For that reason, he says, the company has developed a system that makes cloning the tag impossible, and secures the data from any theft, although he declines to describe how the technology does this.
German parking and security company Vollmer Group began testing the ViaTag system in parking locations in the North Rhine-Westphalia area. MotionID installed UHF interrogators (a variety of RFID reader makes and models were used, Utz says) above the lots’ entry and exit points. Vollmer then provided windshield tags to its customers.
When the users approach a gate, they do not need to stop their cars. Instead, they simply slow to a safe speed, passing underneath an overhead interrogator that reads the tag and sends the tag ID via a cabled connection to a computer with MotionID software running on it, as well an Internet connection linked to the Web-based server. (Tests have shown the system capable of reading tags attached to vehicles moving as fast as 50 miles per hour.) The MotionID software identifies the user, along with bank or credit card account that will be used to pay for the parking fee. The software then instructs the barrier gate to open, allowing the driver entrance. The same process occurs as he exits, with the reader capturing the ID and again approving the tag ID, prompting the gate to open. The cost for that parking session is calculated by the MotionID software and is deducted either automatically from an account, or stored and billed accordingly at the end of the month.
Based on the results of the six-month testing period, Vollmer Group now intends to install the system at all 10 of its parking lots in the North Rhine and Westphalia area, as well as surround cities such as Leipzig. The company has told Utz that the system provides a better flow rate of customers into and out of the parking lots because it eliminates waiting times to access exits or to retrieve cash at debit machines. It also reduces the cost of paper required with paper tickets. Women, Vollmer reports, appreciate not needing to open their windows or walk to a cash machine, while young people say they like the technology’s “cool factor.”
MotionID is currently in discussions with some very large parking authorities regarding the adoption of the ViaTag system, Utz says, although he says he cannot name them. He is also in discussions with a fast-food restaurant that could use the system to identify customers when they arrive at a drive-up window. The cost of a food order could automatically be deducted from a customer’s credit card or bank account.
The system could also be used by a car-rental company, which would apply RFID windshield stickers to its fleet and then identify automatically when each specific car was driven onto and off its lot.
In coming years, Utz expects enough parking locations to install the system so that consumers could use the same Pacc card or windshield tag at multiple locations, paying for parking at a stadium, airport or train station, for example, as well as paying for fast food. So far, only several northern German parking lots (including those operated by the Vollmer Group) are using the system, with “just a few thousand” windshield stickers in use, says Utz. However, he expects that number to grow by the end of the year. In addition, he expects that once phones with built-in Near Field Communication (NFC) technology become more commonplace, the ViaTag system will support NFC RFID, so that people will be able to use their phones, instead of a windshield tag or Pacc card.
In March of this year 3M‘s New Ventures division invested in MotionID Technologies. The involvement of 3M, Utz believes, will facilitate ViaTag’s entry into new global markets, with 3M providing sales and technological support and know-how.