Intel demonstrated a prototype “smart tag” for packages at IDF. These smart tags have the ability to detect motion and display it on a chart in real-time, reports CIO.
“Smart Tags” to track your fragile packages
Going forward, the smart tags could report on shipping conditions in real-time without requiring a battery to remain powered. The label might even be disposable after the package is delivered. This is an IoT item which enterprises may not be aware of on a system or device, but they could still benefit from every day. For a shipping company, it might save on specialized technology and labor rollouts, the report says.
In the demonstration, a real-time graph created by the sensor readings automatically showed a box being shaken up. Power for the chip comes from an unlicensed, standard wireless network. A mote is something which, according to the chip maker, is the key to this oversharing tag. A mote is a chip so tiny that it could get lost in a jar of coarse-ground pepper, the report says.
The IA-32 mote, which is built on Intel’s Quark architecture, would be the mind of the tag and would include temperature, motion and other sensors. The mote does not talk directly to the cloud but instead uses a low-power, short-range network to communicate with a local gateway device, which then forwards the data over a longer-range network such as cellular, the report explains.
What Intel plans for VR, drones, self-driving cars
Also at IDF, the chip maker talked about virtual reality, holographic programs, smarter homes, autonomous driving and drones.
Intel showed off a new take on VR headsets which do not require a smartphone or PC to work. Virtual reality has much potential; however, current devices need a connection to a smartphone or a high-powered PC. Going forward, this requirement may disappear, as the chip maker disclosed its “Project Alloy” to remove those needs. Also Intel announced that that it hopes to address the challenges faced by holographic media by partnering with Microsoft to make headsets and “mixed reality ready PCs.”
Tech companies such are still trying to figure out ways to make drones useful, and Intel is creating its own drone kit called the “Aero Ready To Fly.” As for the self-driving car, the chip maker is working with companies like BMW and Baidu to build central data centers and in-car systems to help cars navigate together. The chip maker hopes that by 2030, around 120 million cars with some self-driving capability will be on the roads.
