Bluetooth SIG Highlights
Written on Wednesday, June 02, 2010
Reading through the Bluetooth SIG Magazine, a quarterly edition that includes some of the most important updates around Bluetooth as a technology, I came across a couple of interesting articles -- I'm giving you the most interesting bits from two of them below.
The first is about how Bluetooth is used by traffic wardens in Bluetooth Technology@Work, to improve the collection rate for parking violations (you will pay that ticket -- they've now got evidence against you!) :
Public-sector agencies struggling to collect revenue during tough economic times are getting new help from a venerable source – parking tickets. Armed with vCitePlus, a Bluetooth enabled system developed by Sandy, Utah– based Velosum that makes it easier to write and record citations, several cities around the United States are adding hundreds of thousands of dollars to local government coffers.
The solution, fi rst launched in January 2008, uses digital pen and paper technology from Anoto Group. The pen records the data as offi cers write citations and sends it to a mobile phone via Bluetooth wireless technology. Offi cers then use the phone to take digital photos of license plates or other details as evidence and upload all of the data to a central Web portal in real time. Faced with such timely and detailed information, violators are much more likely to pay their fi nes than dispute them....Velosum’s solution is in place in 17 U.S. municipalities, including Provo and Grand Junction, Colo., for everything from managing parking and speeding tickets to handling weed abatement violations and even controlling graffiti....The Anoto pen, an integral part of the solution, works much like conventional writing devices, which keeps training costs to a minimum. An offi cer writes out violation information with the pen, using ticket forms printed on special patterned paper. As he or she writes, an infrared camera in the stylus captures pen-tip movements by taking nearly 75 digital photographs per second. The pen transfers the images via Bluetooth technology to proprietary Velosum software loaded on a mobile phone, which then uses a secure Web connection to send everything to a Web portal, which also runs vCitePlus software. “We then play connect the dots,” Critchfi eld says. The software translates the pattern and pen movements into data that digitizes the handwritten information on the tickets.
The solution also captures the GPS coordinates of where the citation is issued as well as photographs agents take on-site using the cell phone. “When you see a photo of your car parked in front of a fi re hydrant, it’s hard to not pay the ticket,” Critchfield says.
The second is about an innovative product using Bluetooth (in fact the Bluetooth Innovation World Cup Winner), that keeps track of your daily calory burnout using a device that attaches to your shoe (fine for trainers, but is it really for business men/women?):
A new Bluetooth enabled device being developed by Colorado-based Physical Activity Innovations, LLC, will shed more light on the benefits of these hidden bursts of physical activity, enabling users to discover where they can make changes in their daily routines that can add up to better fitness.
The Fit Companion is a small sensor that attaches to a user’s shoe. It’s designed to deliver information on the amount of physical energy and number of calories he or she expends during the course of the day. Information generated by the device can be delivered to any Bluetooth enabled device, including mobile phones and PCs....The Fit Companion will automatically recognize typical postures and activities such as sitting, walking or cycling. It’s calibrated by accurate estimates of energy expenditure, verified by academic research.Trackable data includes time spent sitting, number of steps taken, time spent moving and so on. The device will even provide proactive motivational feedback: “You’ve been sitting for too long! Let’s take a few steps!”...The product is still under development, but its designers expect to complete it within the next two years.”
Interesting to see these two posts in comparison. One is about an existing product, which is already being used, with success. The other is about an innovative idea that is going to reach the market in two years -- a pretty long time.
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