Identity, Security, Payments, Biometrics, Smart Cards and Authentication News

Sokymat 13.56 MHz RFID tags used in new real/virtual entertainment concept

Tuesday, December 6, 2005

Using 13.56 MHZ RFID tags to identify and track players, a Spanish entertainment company has introduced RFID to the world of gaming. The Breakout combines real and virtual experiences in which plays solve quizzes and overcome obstacles in an attempt to escape from a high-tech prison. Sokymat is supplying the transponders for use in the entertainment complex.


Granges (Veveyse)- Sokymat SA, the world’s leading supplier of RFID transponders, announced that its transponders have been selected by Spanish high-tech entertainment company Negone for a revolutionary facility which recently opened in Madrid.

Negone 2 “La fuga” (the breakout) is a completely new entertainment concept combining both real and virtual experiences in which players have to solve quizzes and overcome obstacles in order to escape from “Mazzinia,” a futuristic high security prison.

Negone uses Sokymat 13.56 MHz RFID tags to identify and track the players inside the 4000 square meter fully-decorated building. The system consists of a network of 200 readers and control units. All identification points are connected by means of a CAN bus that makes it possible to collect data from players, activate doors and lights and also to verify the proper operation of every device in the network. The Sokymat transponders are embedded in the wrist wearable PDAs given to each player.

The main criteria taken into account in the selection of the RFID tags was the reading range, ease of integration with the rest of the equipment and the overall quality of the tag. Because of the high number of readers, their cost was also a sensitive issue.

RFID is just one of technologies used in the game. There are also wearable PDAs custom-made for Negone 2, IR positioning systems and a powerful software application capable of generating a different game for each player.

Negone, headquartered in Madrid, invested 16.3 million euro in this center. All technology was developed at the company’s innovation center in Barcelona. Negone is planning to expand internationally with the opening of new entertainment centers in the United States.

About Sokymat Sokymat, the world’s leading supplier of RFID transponders, is present in all major market segments that express a strong interest in the benefits of RFID technology, namely access control and security, industrial automation and supply chain management as well as animal identification. Thanks to its 15 years of experience in transponder manufacturing technology and its know-how in packaging technology, Sokymat can design and manufacture virtually any type of custom-made transponder suited to the specific operating environment and packaging material requested by the customer - including metal.

Alongside with its expertise in 125/134.2 kHz and UHF RFID technology, Sokymat boasts the most complete know-how in 13.56 MHz technology and serves fast growing industry segments such as the emerging market for government-issued electronic passports and travel documents.

The group employs more than 400 people worldwide, has both research and development centers and manufacturing plants in Switzerland, Sweden, Germany and Malaysia. [end] 

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