Ekahau's T301W Wi-Fi wristband wirelessly tracks kids, wandering grandparents

What's the best technology to use to track people who like to wander off? You might be inclined to say GPS, but stagger into a cave or basement (or, sometimes, a city street) and suddenly you're off the grid, man. Not with Ekahau's T301W wristband: it uses Wi-Fi to beam location information. Yes, we know that your average cave doesn't have Wi-Fi, but Ekahau has a range of beacons available that will fix that, and when in the presence of those beacons (or any other configured Wi-Fi network) a wristband can be located to within a few feet. It's the latest of a variety of similar devices from Ekahau, but the first small enough and waterproof enough to be wearable, which has the company envisioning everyone from cruise ship captains to secret service agents slapping these on their visitors. At $60 a pop, though, we're not sure how many organizations will be able to afford that many.

[cashclientel Posted Oct 15th 2009 7:48AM]

this is useless.

[barry99705 Posted Oct 15th 2009 8:13AM]

Why so? The Ekahau software works great with regular wifi devices. You can find a specific laptop in your office easily with it. The even cooler part is you can find unauthorized wifi devices just as fast.

[MikeZ Posted Oct 15th 2009 7:48AM]

Sounds like there´s a lot of possible applications.
Definitely would help tracking down some colleagues when they´re wandering around the company building again just when you need them. :D

[benderfender Posted Oct 15th 2009 7:57AM]

so are you mr. tim. what are we going to do with you?

[Dr Yusuf AlKindi Posted Oct 15th 2009 8:04AM]

This device makes sense if you have a hospital or other building, like a nursing home, which has WiFi routers spread throughout their building. It does not make sense as a device for people who are goign to walk away outside. A typical application might be on the wrists of dementia patients in an assisted living facility.

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 15th 2009 8:10AM]

Very cool idea, looks like a useful tool for keeping track of people. Would be great for people with Alzheimer's.

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[jimr1234567890 Posted Oct 15th 2009 9:18AM]

I could see some work places liking this... they could map individual employee movements through out a day and see how long it took you to take a piss. Or how long you spent on coffee.

[rtdunham Posted Oct 15th 2009 9:29AM]

any way this could be used as a poor man's Lojack? Hide it in the trunk, you're car's stolen, and voila! or wi-foila! Could you at least track your ride as it passed public wi-fi hot spots?

[KAL326 Posted Oct 15th 2009 9:45AM]

Probably so, just keep it powered off a circuit in the car so you wouldn't have to worry about recharging it and hope your car thief stops for a latte.

[Felipe M Posted Oct 15th 2009 1:52PM]

It looks like a new Wii peripheral.

[HaggisNS Posted Oct 15th 2009 10:30PM]

Am I missing something?

This bracelet could automatically scan for open wifi networks and automatically connect and send a phone home signal?

thats really neat and definitely versatile little device.

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 14th 2009 8:53AM]

I think it works differently. You have to have some software running on the same wifi network that knows the tag and the tag sends its information to it. But I could be wrong. Your phone home for any connection is a good idea.

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 16th 2009 12:49AM]

Balloon Boy could have used one of these.