條碼將被取代？智慧型標籤興起
摘錄自：天下雜誌 經濟學人電子報 2014/3/14
2014-03-12 Web
only 作者：經濟學人
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| 圖片來源：flickr.com/photos/streamishmc/ |
1974年6月，收銀員首次掃描了印在產品上的通用產品代碼（UPC）。40年過後，那個現在稱之為條碼的東西，已然改變了整個商業世界；它提供可靠的產品辨識、追蹤、定價之道，幾乎所有東西上都能看見它的身影。
不過，條碼的功能相當有限，只能提供印製時所記載的資訊；下一代標籤會更先進，可以產生、儲存和分享資訊，進而成為「物聯網」的重要角色。部分產品已經載有RFID等小型電子裝置；RFID已用於防竊、產品追蹤等用途，但與可以印在包裝上的條碼相比，造價還是相對昂貴。
智慧型標籤的目標，就是創造一種可以印製的電子膜。位於奧斯陸的Thinfilm找出了印製記憶電路的方式，讓智慧型標籤得以儲存資訊。這種印製記憶體的容量並不大，但對某些用途來說，小小容量就非常夠用了；Thinfilm指出，僅僅20位元的記憶標籤，就能儲存超過100萬種組合。
下一步就是增加邏輯功能，得靠印製式電晶體才辦得到。為此，Thinfilm與Xerox旗下的獨立實驗室PARC合作；PARC以有機材質製作可以印製電晶體的墨水，這種墨水可以用於噴墨式印表機，也可以用於商用捲筒式印刷機。
今年1月，Thinfilm收購位於矽谷、專精於近場通訊（NFC）的Kovio Technology；有了NFC系統，使用者只要用行動裝置輕靠NFC標籤，就能傳送或接收資料。NFC是RFID進階版，部分非接觸式付款系統也已經在使用；有了NFC，智慧型標籤就能無線通訊。
除了傳輸產品代碼之外，智慧型標籤還能記錄保存時間、溫度等資訊，與其他消費資訊一同顯示於螢幕之上。產品認證則是另一項可能用途；目前部分產品認證使用的是全像攝影技術，Thinfilm執行長舒提亞（Davor Sutija）認為，智慧型標籤的印製成本可以比全像攝影更低。
智慧型標籤必須價格低廉才能獲得廣泛使用。舒提亞指出，基本型的印製記憶體標籤成本約為2美分；印製感應標籤不會超過50美分，傳統微電子系統的標籤則要價10美元以上。要是智慧型標籤可以和條碼一樣普及，價格勢必更低，進而開啟各種各樣的可能性。（黃維德譯）
©The Economist
Newspaper Limited 2014
The Economist
Monitor
Just the
ticket
By The Economist
From The Economist
Published: March
12, 2014
Mar 8th 2014 |
From the print edition
Smart labels: The
40-year-old barcode has a new, more intelligent rival that can store
information, display and transmit it.
IN JUNE 1974
history was made at a supermarket in Troy, Ohio, with a ten-pack of Wrigley's
Juicy Fruit chewing gum. It was the first time a commercial item bearing a
Universal Product Code (UPC) was scanned by a cashier at the checkout. Forty
years on, what became known as a barcode has transformed the world of commerce
by providing reliable product identification, tracking and pricing. Nearly
everything now comes with a barcode.
As revolutionary
as it was, the barcode has limited abilities. It can impart only the
information it was printed with, represented by a series of horizontal stripes
or a matrix pattern that can be read by an optical device, like a laser. The
next generation of labelling will be more adept, containing tiny printable
electronics able to generate, store and share information. These smart labels
are about to become a big part of "the internet of things".
Some products
already have small electronic devices, such as a radio-frequency identification
(RFID) tag, attached to them. Unlike a barcode, an RFID tag does not have to be
in sight of the device that reads it. They are used as security tags, to track
products in a factory and they are implanted into pets for identification. Most
are passive, emitting only an identifying signal, such as their UPC, in
response to a radio transmission. An RFID tag, though, remains relatively
expensive compared with a barcode, which can be printed as part of the design
on packaging.
The idea behind
smart labels is to produce a flexible film of electronics that can be printed
like a barcode. One company commercialising this is Thinfilm, based in Oslo. It
has pioneered a way to print memory circuits which can be used by smart labels
to store information.
The Thinfilm
memory is printed as a film of ferroelectric polymer sandwiched between two
electrodes. When a voltage is applied to the top or bottom electrode, the
polymer's magnetic polarisation can be switched. When the voltage is removed,
it remains in the same state. This means it can be read as a one or a zero.
The amount of
printable memory that can be produced is not huge. But for some applications a
little can go a long way. As Thinfilm points out, a tiny 20-bit memory label
can store over 1m combinations, which is enough for companies using them in
things like toys or loyalty cards.
The next thing is
to add logic, which requires printing transistors. For this, Thinfilm has
teamed up with PARC, a Californian subsidiary of Xerox now run as an
independent research laboratory. PARC has been working on printing flexible
electronics for more than a decade.
PARC develops inks
with the properties of the components it wants to print, such as a
semiconducting material for transistors. Silicon is used to make transistors,
but being difficult to dissolve does not make a good ink. So PARC uses organic
materials instead. These can be printed with inkjet machines or, as Thinfilm does,
with commercial reel-to-reel presses.
In January
Thinfilm bought Kovio Technology, a Silicon Valley firm with expertise in Near
Field Communication (NFC). This is a system which allows a user simply to tap
an NFC tag with a portable device, like a smartphone, to send or receive data.
NFC is a more sophisticated version of RFID and is already used by some
contactless payment systems. By incorporating NFC, smart labels will be able to
communicate wirelessly.
Besides conveying
product codes, the applications which the company already has in mind include
recording storage times and temperatures for perishable goods like food and
pharmaceuticals. These data can be displayed on a flexible screen along with
other consumer information. Smart labels might even be programmed to
automatically discount their prices in response to marketing campaigns.
Confirming the identity of products is another potential use. Davor Sutija,
Thinfilm's chief executive, thinks smart labels can printed for less than the
cost of holograms, which are currently used to authenticate some goods.
To gain widespread
use, smart labels will need to be cheap. Basic printed-memory labels could be
produced for around two cents, reckons Dr Sutija. Printed sensor-labels might
cost 50 cents or less, compared with $10 or more for a system using
conventional microelectronics. Prices would be bound to come down if smart
labels become anywhere near as popular as barcodes. That would open up all
sorts of possibilities. Imagine a label that would inform a smartphone app that
you have put on the wrong trousers.
©The Economist
Newspaper Limited 2014
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