WearID: RFID Wristband Reader
Advances in RFID technology are opening up a myriad of commercial applications related to identifying and interacting with objects, from home automation and health and wellness to augmented reality and tele-rehabilitation. Passive UHF RFID readers are a particularly attractive option due to their low cost and no maintenance; however, their limited range necessitates the use of many readers to cover a single large room, an expensive and labor-intensive process. This invention, known as WearID, overcomes the traditional limitations of UHF RFID readers through end-to-end design innovation, optimizing the wearable reader for low power, form-factor, and performance. WearID is able to detect grasping, releasing, touching, and passing near tagged objects. TECHNOLOGY DESCRIPTION ADVANTAGES • Consumes 6x less power than best-in-class commercial readers• Provides 3D coverage 20 – 30 centimeters away from tagged objects, even with body blockage• Detects and classifies various hand-based interactions through machine learning: grasping, releasing, touching, and passing by PRODUCT OPPORTUNITIES• IoT• Mobile health• Home automation and security• Augmented reality• Eldercare ABOUT THE INVENTOR Deepak Ganesan is a Professor in the Department of Computer Science at UMass Amherst. His research focuses on ultra-low power wireless communication via backscatter, novel platforms and algorithms for mobile and wearable health sensing, learning and inference on multi-modal sensor data, and micro-powered sensors. Dr. Ganesan leads the UMass Sensors Research Group. AVAILABILITY: Available for Licensing and/or Sponsored Research DOCKET: UMA 17-020 PATENT STATUS: Patent Pending NON-CONFIDENTIAL INVENTION DISCLOSURE LEAD INVENTOR: Deepak Ganesan, Ph.D. CONTACT: Advances in RFID technology are opening up a myriad of commercial applications related to identifying and interacting with objects, from home automation and health and wellness to augmented reality and tele-rehabilitation. Passive UHF RFID readers are a particularly attractive option due to their low cost and no maintenance; however, their limited range necessitates the use of many readers to cover a single large room, an expensive and labor-intensive process.This invention, known as WearID, overcomes the traditional limitations of UHF RFID readers through end-to-end design innovation, optimizing the wearable reader for low power, form-factor, and performance. WearID is able to detect grasping, releasing, touching, and passing near tagged objects.
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