We all see barcodes in action at most retail stores, and the increased accuracy that technology allows in collecting sales information opened up all kinds of analysis. A newer technology, radio frequency identification (RFID) takes this one step further by putting a chip on the merchandise that can talk to computers. IBM has a commercial where a truck is lost and it stops at an IBM help desk in the middle of the desert. The drivers ask how the help desk person knew they were lost. She says “the inventory told us.” If the RFID tags know they are supposed to be heading east and they start going north, they could send out a “help us” message. Or a supermarket could tag everything, and when you go to the checkout, a computer could read all of the tags in your cart all at once. Cool, huh?

But one interesting part of technology is that the intended use and the actual uses often diverge. Here’s a company with an interesting application of RFID. Watch where you walk.