ImaginativePRO Blog

HOW DISNEY PLANS TO MAKE RFID-BASED MAGICBANDS A $1 BILLION PROJECT TO REMAKE THE DISNEY WORLD EXPERIENCE

DISNEY HAS A NEW PLAN FOR HOW USERS CAN PAY FOR EXPERIENCES IN THEIR PARKS--NO CASH OR CREDIT CARDS REQUIRED.

I’ll never forget going to Disney World as a child. As we stood in line to enter the park, a simple cash register--one like I’d see at the local donut shop or gas station--rang up a bill close to $1,000. While my parents were no doubt prepped for the sticker shock--or just very cool about the whole thing--I felt a blow of guilt right in my gut. I was just a kid, but I knew that was a whole lot of money being spent just for me to feel like a kid.

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It’s just one of many reasons that Disney’s MagicBands are a great idea. They’re RFID wristbands that are at the heart of a collection of services Disney is dubbing MyMagic+. It’s all part of an estimated $1 billion makeover for the parks, aimed at making the experience of being at Disney a bit more magical.

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A family of four can put MagicBands on after registering for the cloud-based service, then instead of digging through cash or (the unmaxed) credit cards, they can use their wrists to enter the park, buy lunch, and even unlock their hotel room. A skeptic would point out that such an interaction will disassociate people with spending money, and that’s entirely true: Families will be able to enjoy Disney without the constant reminder that the magic comes at a price.

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But the cashflow aspect is only one aspect of Disney’s new service. When you begin to consider the potential of wearing a wireless ID around your wrist, all sorts of natural, customized interactions will become possible. Imagine a child meeting Mickey Mouse, and after sharing a warm hug, Mickey actually wishing them a happy birthday by name. There’s a digital handshake going on here, of course, but it’s totally imperceptible. All a child is left wondering is, “How did Mickey know me … and that it was my birthday?!?” Animatronics will see a similar personalization, so the otherwise obtuse talking robots can specifically acknowledge the people standing in front of them.

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At the same time, MagicBands enable a deeper level of data collection for Disney. They’ll be able to track someone through the entire park--to see their kingdom as a complex interaction model--finding trends in preferences and habits that can no doubt be monetized. Do people who meet Cinderella buy more princess apparel? Do those who eat the cheese fries for lunch go back to the hotel to take naps?

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There will be some level of privacy options, especially for children, whose parents can do things like opt out of characters knowing their names. No personal data is kept on the band itself, and any purchase over $50 will require the user to also enter a PIN (which is actually a buzzkill that destroys the illusion at work--I hope users can opt out of that, too). 

The question becomes, how deeply will Disney integrate their mobile phone app into this model? Because MyMagic+ will enable users to delve deeper into reservations, getting text message updates when a ride is open, and reserving specific seats for the parade. This much information will require some level of feedback that the wristband can’t provide. Hopefully, Disney has some other tricks up its sleeve for tackling these logistics without fueling our smartphone obsession. Because however much profit lurks underneath the surface, MagicBands are a brilliant ploy to get us all looking at the world around us again.

COMMENTARY:   Radio frequency identification or RFID technology has been around for years, but it has never caught on like many experts had predicted.  In fact, many technology experts had all but written off RFID in favor of barcodes, NFC and other technologies.  Disney's $1 billion investment in MagicBands demonstrates a strong commitment to RFID technology, and I can definitely see a lot of financial, operational and marketing benefits.  The personalization of the Disney World experience is a huge benefit.  The ability to know who you are when you board a Disney ride or enter a Disney store, and be able to market something to that individual is obvious.  Knowing where your kids are anywhere in Disney World will bring peace of mind to parents.  I thought how something similar could be done with an NFC app, but not everybody owns a smartphone, and many cellphone users don't like being tracked.  It would be hit-and-miss if Disney had decided to use an app with near field commuications (NFC) technology, and you would not accrue the benefits of using a universal wrist worn MagicBand.  I am planning a trip to Florida and look forward to visiting Disney World and experiencing MagicBand firsthand.

Courtesy of an article dated January 11, 2013 appearing in Fast Company Design 

 

HOW GREEN GOOSE USES RFID SENSOR 'GAMIFICATION' TECHNOLOGY TO TRACK YOUR LIFESTYLE ACTIVITIES

 

Green Goose's sensor kit will let kids and parents add location-aware data sensors to frisbees, toothbrushes, the family dog... pretty much anything.

"Gamification" -- the idea that digitally attaching points, levels, and instant feedback to un-fun activities will magically make them more engaging -- may have already jumped the shark, but that hasn't stopped the trend from growing. One new player on the scene, Green Goose, at least tries to zig where others have zagged by focusing on physical product design rather than badge-addled vaporware. It's selling a family-friendly kit filled with cleverly designed digital sensors that let you add "game mechanics" to just about anything you have laying around the house.

Brian Krejcarek, Green Goose's founder, says his kit is all about creating "quantified fun." Even if that phrase makes you throw up in your mouth a little, you can't deny that his perky little sensors fill a need that other products in this space aren't addressing: namely, that tracking your habits (whether it's brushing your teeth, going for jogs, or anything else you wish you did more often) is a giant pain in the ass. "The way people have to manually log that information is too tedious," Krejcarek tells Co.Design. "Seeing a graph of your exercise or cups of coffee may be interesting, but the benefits don't outweigh the hassle of keeping it current."

Green Goose's sensors, meanwhile, come with proprietary algorithms that are tuned to track specific activities without any input from the user. Attach a cute little egg to your toothbrush, and it automagically knows to measure how often you clean your teeth. Pop a credit-card-sized pedometer in your purse or pocket, and it's smart enough to track your steps while ignoring other jiggling throughout your day. The sensors communicate with a wireless base station, but they can also store data when they're taken out of the system's 300-foot range and sync it later. And each one has a battery that lasts a whole year.

But Green Goose's smartest idea is embedding smart sensors in a pack of discreet adhesive stickers that can be attached to just about anything -- from floss to pill bottles, lunch bags to lawn darts. Just match the icon on the sticker to the real-life object or activity -- Green Goose has about 50 of them, with more on the way -- and the algorithms take care of the rest. "It's a very passive and ubiquitous approach," says Krejcarek. "People aren't thinking about syncing, logging or configuring anything. These are activities that you may be doing already, and we want to make them even more fun."

That explains the colorful, bubbly product design -- unlike other "serious game" schemes meant to turn work into play, Green Goose is "oriented toward kids and families," Krejcarek says. "It's intentionally playful design; none of it should be taken too seriously." Maybe that's why there's a sensor you can slap on the family pet. Why? Who knows? But if your kids are bored on a rainy Sunday afternoon, you might be more inclined to think: Why not? "We also build games around stuff that is more health oriented," Krejcarek adds, "but we don't perceive ourselves as health company -- it's more about just doing activities that bring families together."

While that pitch might not sound Silicon-Valley sexy, it was enough to hook investors at Jason Calacanis's Launch conference earlier this year. With "gamification" being loudly (and dubiously) touted as a solution to everything from workplace ennui to global warming, maybe Green Goose's light touch is exactly what people actually want.

COMMENTARY:   Green Goose is quite a product that fits into what I call the "lifestyle gaming" category.  There are a lot of wireless products out there, but as far as I know none that can track so many different activities on one platform.

I checked further, and Green Goose uses Radio Frequency Identification or RFID technology. RFID are little transmitters that can attach to just about anything.   RFID technology is used in:

• Inventory control.
• Container/pallet tracking.
• ID badges and access control.
• Fleet tracking and maintenance. 
• Equipment and personnel tracking in hospitals.
• Parking lot access and control.
• Vehicle tracking in parking lots.
• Product tracking through manufacturing and assembly.
• Animal and livestock tracking.

In principal this diagram explains how RFID works:

I am guessing that Green Goose's RFID system works about the same.    Green Goose's RFID system stores data of an individual's lifestyle activities when that individual is more than 300-feet away from the base station.  When the individual returns home the system automatically updates and synchronizes the user's lifestyle activities database.   That's a pretty cool.

Customer's will be able to pre-order their Green Goose sensor kit once their beta test is completed.  

Courtesy of an article dated March 31, 2011 appearing in Fast Company Design