Results: RFID and Identity Management in everyday life - ITAS

Case #36: KidSpotter Child tracking application
Case ID 36 , level 3
Title KidSpotter Child tracking application
Researcher Jessica Cornelissen
Timing Launched on 27th March 2004 in Legoland Billund, Denmark
Geography Denmark
Environment Leisure
Technology The Child tracking application involves four elements, which combines technologies from Theme Park
Intelligence KidSpotter [13] and Aeroscout [14]:
- T2 tags incorporated in a wristband or a badge clip. The technology combines active RFID detection
with a Wireless LAN environment. The tags make it possible to locate any asset normally not Wi-Fi
enabled and is 802.11b compatible. The tag has a battery life of 3 years and weighs 35 grams.
- location receivers are placed throughout the park; roughly 40 to 50 location receivers are to be
installed throughout an 150.000 square meters park. These remotely configurable receivers are
housed in rugged NEMA-rated weatherproof enclosures. They can be connected to the park’s
network by fiberoptic cable links and wireless bridges.
- location server software, installed on a server with Intel Xeon processors. The core software, written
in C#, manages the collection and processing of location data.
- mobile communication platform handles the communication between the KidSpotter applications,
the location server and the SMS gateway that sends up-to-date location information to visitors’ mobile
phones. [13, 2, 16, 18]
Costs The rental fee is €3 per day; (in comparison: the entrance fee is mid-€20s)
Installation of a location receiver costs $3,000 to $4,000 each.
The tags cost appr. $85 each and the park is starting with 500 of them [15]
Maturity Fully implemented
Function 1. A tracking and alerting system for parents
2. An information system for park management (real-time location service)
Owner Legoland Billund
Maintainer Legoland Billund
Users Visitors of the theme-park
Other actors
Case story The system was developed to address the need of the amusement industry to have insight in visitor
movements. But it also addresses another problem; the (temporary) loss of about 1600 children
annually, that is 0,1% of their visitors.
On entering the park the parents can choose to make use of the system by paying a rental fee for the
tag. They then register the tag by associating their mobile phone number to the tag-ID and they
receive a (gridded) map of the area. If the parents lose sight of their child, they can send an SMS
message to the Kidspotter system. They will receive a return message stating the name of the park
area and the map coordinate of their child's position in the park with an accuracy of 3 meters. When
leaving the park the tag is deactivated so it can be re-used.
All data is stored in an open format to enable extensive data analysis of visitor behaviour and the
park’s most popular routes. Because of this format, it is possible to run both standard tests and
specific tests designed by the park management.
The system is tested by Legoland Billund in 2004. The British branch in Windsor might be installing
the system too, according to Ben Egan, Windsor spokesman [19].
ID issue Obtaining information about movement of visitors in the park by coupling it to a popular service
(without them knowing it?).
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