South By Southwest (SXSW) is a film, music, and interactive festival has been an annual event hosted in Austin, Texas every March since 1987. Drawing international attention, crowds of increasing size have flocked to Austin for the festival to experience the lively atmosphere, see popular bands and keynote.
Now with crowds exceeding 32,000, SXSW has turned to RFID technology to track who goes where and optimize their crowd control. Each participant is given a wristband for the events attended at the SXSW festival, and each wristband is embedded with an RFID tracking chip. These wristbands are unique to each of the events, making them ideal for participants to collect as many as they can.
Crowds of people can easily be tracked with RFID by crossing the plane of an RFID sensor. Knowing how many people attended each event, SXSW can:
- Utilize the information to plan for years to come
- Know when each event reaches its max capacity
With the aid of RFID, SXSW has been able to successfully track their “assets” – crowds of attendees – since 2004.
While SXSW mainly uses stationary RFID scanners at event gates, mobile RFID scanners could further improve their asset tracking. By going mobile, RFID chips can be read by walking past them with the scanner, breaking the scanner’s plane. This ability would allow SXSW to track more information about participants, such as what lines they stand in and where they flock to inside the events. The information could help improve future SXSW events.
So, which mobile RFID option is the right fit? Well, in my opinion, both Honeywell’s Optimus 5900 and Intermec’s CK3 are great mobile computers for the job. We’ve showcased the Honeywell Optimus 5900 in recent blog posts, so let’s shed some light on Intermec’s CK3 Mobile Computer. While the CK3 can scan 1D and 2D barcodes, capture images, and access internet applications, it also has the option to integrate with an RFID handle attachment. Connecting with Bluetooth or USB, the RFID attachment can scan and track RFID chips, gather information, and integrate that information with databases and applications through internet connectivity or print directly through to Intermec mobile printers.
SXSW utilizes RFID technology to track their assets, gather information, and improve their future events. Can you utilize the power of RFID tracking in a similar fashion? For more information on asset tracking or the Intermec CK3 Mobile Computer with its RFID handle attachment, contact us today at info@L-Tron.com or 800-830-9523.