“Unmanned hotels”
A new project to develop ¡Èunmanned hotels¡É in Japan may soon eliminate the burdensome task of checking in at the front desk. A consortium of five companies, including the trading company Itochu and consumer credit provider Orico, are working to develop a network of hotels that rely on an online reservation and payment system, RFID-enabled Orico credit cards that serve as keys, and RFID-enabled door entry locks.
Original Source: RFID in Japan
Dr. Shin'ichi Konomi has been RFID in Japan's contributor since April of 2004. He received his Ph.D. from Kyoto University, Japan and was a postdoctoral research scientist at Fraunhofer IPSI, Germany. He has been building and testing various ubicomp applications using RFID since 1998. Shin'ichi often collaborated with his colleagues in Japan, co-organizing International Workshops on RFID (2004) and playing a role as a liaison for ALAN-K Project, an international project for introducing a new computer-supported learning environment for Japanese kids (2002). He also writes articles on technology and media arts in Japan for we-make-money-not-art.com.