Interview of David Theriault, Director of Ubisense:

Transcribed by Todd Fox

Interviewer: Today we've got David Theriault from Ubisense, one of the world's leaders in RFID technology. Dave, perhaps you could start off by telling us a little bit about RFID.

Theriault: RFID stands for Radio Frequency Identification. It's a broad generic term for a type of technology that covers a broad sweep of devices, and the first class of them is something called "passive RFID". These operate at extremely close ranges -- almost physical contact. They're very low-cost devices, and can be used to tag even things even as small as a piece of paper. These range through to far more sophisticated devices -- active RFID devices -- and these broadcast from some sort of power source (like a battery) and can give far greater range and far greater control.

Interviewer: Do you have any examples of the sort of componentry that's involved in this technology?

Theriault: This is the type of sensor (or receiver) that would be monitored around a building. This receiver can pick-up the radio signals broadcast by a set of these kinds of tags. These tags would be worn by people, or attached to assets. Using the technology then -- the software technology that would communicate these, you can determine the location of people and assets throughout an entire infrastructure building.

Interviewer: It all sounds very technologically-exiting stuff, but exactly what would you do with this -- how would you -- what sort of things would you do with this?

Theriault: There's a number of areas that is relevant for the workplace. Some of them involve control/communications, but the key one that's of interest is the idea that you can measure how your workspace is being utilized. It's about being able to track and understand your key resources: people, and key assets. How they're being deployed in the workspace, have you got enough space to be able to use these -- these people.

Interviewer: So if was a workplace manager then, I would be able to understand almost second-by-second where people were, how they were using things, how many people were in my building, and exactly where they were -- is that a fair...?

Theriault: Exactly, yes. It's by being able to attach the tags to the people, you can observe them throughout the working day and feed this information into computer databases to be utilized later on. This analysis can allow you in-depth -- down to thirty centimeters -- and in time -- down to the second, of how your resources, how workspaces, meeting rooms, workplaces and so on are best used.

Interviewer: Now I guess this would be particularly interesting if we were applying a very flexable working regime within a building, because in that situation, of course we really don't have any real understanding of where people are and who owns what -- 'cause people don't own anything.

Theriault: Exactly. It is for mobile, collaborative workforces, that are going to deployed far more flexibly than would conventionally. Do you know, do you understand, as a facilities manager, how those resources are best being utilized? Being able to understand that in detail--reliably--is a key aspect of this technology.

Interviewer: Ok, I guess the other spin-off is, that you would be able to know where everybody was. I mean if you were coming into a building and wanted to find somebody in a flexible working regime, just finding them might be a challenge for you, might it?

Theriault: It might. Being able to find an individual, being able to find a group of individuals, being able to find a free workspace, or a group of resources that is going to allow you to accomplish your task.

Interviewer: So when should a workplace manager consider the deployment of RFID?

Theriault: Possibly in the beginning when setting-up a new building it is certainly going to be easier then, but it can also be deployed in existing buildings, in older buildings, and so on. It depends on the environment, but these can be deployed successfully.

Interviewer: If I were running-out of space for instance (or I thought I was), this might be something I might want to deploy to try and find out the truth about the matter I suppose.

Theriault: Exactly. Before you start spending large sums of money on new buildings on new facilities it's probably a good idea to understand in detail first exactly what your requirements are by understanding current needs and current activities.

Interviewer: And the sixty-four thousand dollar question, David, how much does all this cost?

Theriault: It's highly affordable. This is technology that is being deployed successfully, it fits in with the normal costs that you would expect of understanding a building infrastructure.

Interviewer: Alright, well David, thanks very much for that -- and that's been really useful, and we wish you luck with the developments in RFID.