RFID is the name of the game at Stone Mountain
01 March, 2003
category: Contactless, Library, RFID
According to PDC, the interactive fruit farming game has helped increase attendance at Stone Mountain by 20%. Wearing PDC’s Smart Band RFID wristbands, players score points by moving from terminal to terminal, completing farming tasks with foam fruit pieces.
The Smart Band technology in use at Stone Mountain allows users to become farmers. Yes, farmers.
Developed by Precision Dynamics (PDC) of San Fernandino, California, the system is in use at Stone Mountain’s Great Barn, a four-story 1870s-style barn replica where players take on the identity of a fruit farmer helping the Pickens family harvest five different varieties of fruit.
According to PDC, the interactive fruit farming game has helped increase attendance at Stone Mountain by 20%. Wearing PDC’s Smart Band RFID wristbands, players score points by moving from terminal to terminal, completing farming tasks with foam fruit pieces.
Players begin by inputting ID information on registration screens, then scanning the wristband over to record the data. Players then move between game consoles–picking up play fruit pieces, placing them in baskets, tossing them into buckets, stuffing them in vacuum tubes and passing them down troughs. After each task is completed points are recorded with a flick of the wristband. Players are ranked by age group and overall scores.
PDC is using the Tag-It™ RFID product from Texas Instruments in their Smart Bands. Tag-It™ is a 13.56 MHz product that is compliant with ISO 15693 specifications.
According to Precision Dynamics newsletter, Wave Front, the Smart Band’s “non-contact, non-line-of-sight interface offers a dramatic advancement over traditional data collection methods.” And with Smart Band, there’s no need for tokens, tickets, or badges.
“Smart bands are a major contributor to the interactivity of the game,” says Ned Strickland, Stone Mountain Park general manager. “They help make the magic happen by enhancing the play for the kids.”