RF-enabled app locates lost objects or children

Bikn enables users to find lost objects, pets or children using an RF-enabled iPhone case, tags and app.

We’ve recently seen RFID technology used to help farmers track cows and locate children. Now, recently launched Bikn enables consumers to find lost objects, pets or children with a system consisting of an RF-enabled iPhone case, multiple tags and an app. Bikn was created by Treehouse Labs in Texas and launched this month. The case — designed for iPhone4/4S, but also available for the iPhone 3GS — clips on to the phone, and its built-in battery keeps the locator system connected even when the phone is off. Users download the MyBikn app and can attach up to 256 Bikn tags to items they don’t wish to lose — for example, keys, a briefcase or even pets and children. Once the case, app and tags are synced they operate on their own wireless network. The app allows users to “find”, “leash” or “page” tagged items. “Find” is a visual meter and audio signal to recover a misplaced item, “leash” will sound an alarm on the phone and tag if an item is moved beyond a specified range, and “page” will sound an alert on a chosen tag. If users lose their phone, they can push a button on a tag to emit the “page” alarm from that phone’s Bikn case. The system can detect tagged objects within a 250,000 square foot area and costs between USD 100 and 200 depending on the number of tags purchased. A pack of two extra tags costs USD 50. The video below demonstrates Bikn:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2tRxDAnKsI

When it comes to alerting and locating, RFID appears to be the technology of choice. Time to explore what else it could do? Spotted by: Smith Alan