The Fashion Store of Tomorrow Uses Smart Chips
A clothing company in Germany is implementing a new technology that will tag clothing items throughout the store with RFID, or smart chips. They plan to reinvent the shopping experience by installing systems throughout the stores that recognize what you pick up and try on in their Smart Dressing Rooms.
When you try something on in the dressing room an on-screen display will provide you with the price, colors available and current stock. Future plans include a suggestion system for complimentary items. That way you can see the shirt and jacket that go along with the hot pants your trying on.
As an added benefit employees will be able to locate where each item is in the store with hand held scanners and LCD screens. No more fumbling around each rack until you find the size you actually need. If it isn’t in stock they should be able to hit a button to order it to the store or your home.
Don’t worry, the tags will be removed and will cease to track you once your out of the store. Or will they?!
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chris said
am September 23 2007 @ 7:56 pm
these chips have been around for a while now. arent they the same ones that were being injected into peoples skin?
Jerad Kaliher said
am September 23 2007 @ 9:59 pm
@chris, RFID chips have in fact been around for a long time and yes they have been injected in peoples skin in the past. I’m not so sure if they will look similar to the ones you are referring to, however.
Connie T. said
am September 24 2007 @ 8:19 am
Do you have any idea how much this technology will cost? Will it affect the consumer financially? It would definitely be great against shoplifters, look out Winona!
Jerad Kaliher said
am September 24 2007 @ 8:33 am
@Connie T., it’s relativity cheap actually.. somewhere around $.05 per chip. And your right, the other biggie is that they are going to most likely use it for theft. That’s why at the end of the article I was jesting about them watching your every move after you leave the store. It brings up some privacy concerns and if they ever placed the chips inside the fiber where they couldn’t be removed they would be able to check your shopping habits while you were in the same mall.
But then again I’m getting too Fahrenheit 451 on you. By the way, on a side note, I loved Ray Bradbury when I was a kid. Now that I did some background checking on him he turns out to be a total kook, kind of sucks but oh well.
lordmanilastone said
am September 26 2007 @ 1:18 am
This is really interesting but it sounds a bit intrusive. I am not really a shopaholic but I am sure those who are might be skeptical about this.
Jerad Kaliher said
am September 26 2007 @ 9:53 am
@lordmanilastone, I think that is one of the larger issues. In the long run it is a trade off. You can have superior technology and convenience but it does come at a cost. I can see how companies with strong ethics could try to prevent something like tracking someone throughout a mall. The problem is that it is not the executives that are selling the clothes, it is young people who are usually bored and have time to abuse the system. Thanks for the comment.