Trolley Scan of Johannesburg, South Africa has announced the delivery of the first commercialized version of "RFID-radar" to a European IT company.

RFID-radar enables a system user to accurately measure the distance travelled by a signal from a transponder to a reader. This provides users with the unique coordinates of a tagged entity, accurate to within 0.5 meters.

Let's say that you buy a ticket to a hockey game. That ticket is RFID-chipped to track your entry and exit through the RFID-rigged gate. Conventional RFID operates with a pass/fail system. When your ticket (and presumably you) pass through the entry gate, you are identified as being inside the rink. Somewhere. When you pass through the exit gate, you're identified as being outside the rink. Somewhere.

RFID-radar turbo-narrows the scope of "somewhere". You're no longer simply inside or outside the rink. You are now trackable to within a few feet of your skin.

If you think that's not a new capability of RFID, think again. Conventional RFID has a fairly limited read range. Until now, you would have had to install RFID readers every 10-25 feet to achieve this degree of scrutiny.

RFID-radar accomplishes this with only one reader, up to 300 feet away.

According to Mike Marsh, Managing Director of Trolley Scan, "RFID-radar will result in the development of an entire new set of applications for computer based equipment. As all measurements are performed from one set of antennas, the equipment can even be mounted on a forklift truck to locate goods in a warehouse relative to the current position of the vehicle."

Although he declined to give any details, Marsh said that Trolley Scan has been asked to install RFID-radar on a helicopter.

I can see it now: Here comes the zamboni! Quick, cover yourself in foil!