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Legoland Introduces Wi-Fi Tracking for Kids
mindless4210 writes "Lego announced today the successful deployment of a full-scale child-tracking system within Legoland Billund in Europe. The tracking system, deployed by Bluesoft, Inc and KidSpotter, allows park visitors keep track of their children using one of the world's largest Wi-Fi tracking networks. The children must wear a wrist band with a Wi-Fi tag on it, and if they become separated, parents simply send a text message from their mobile phone, and receive an automated response giving them the accurate location of their child."
That'll come next :)
If you mod me down, I *will* introduce you to my sister!
A leash.
Wow, this sound like a great idea. The peace of mind for parents is great. Not to mention not having to use one of those horrible Child Leashes that make it look like you are taking your child for a walk.
"I can not bring myself to believe that if knowledge presents danger, the solution is ignorance" - Isaac Asimov
Does your 8 year old need alot of privacy at Legoland? What would they be doing which would warrant the parents not knowing where they are?
[this is reasonably political - feel free to ignore]
Whereas this is bound to be a 'good thing' (the cry 'child in trouble' is just about the most instinct-driven response any adult has), the signature is somethinng to be wary of.
Consider that analysis of people-in-crowds is pretty easy these days. Consider that tracking (after positive analysis) is again reasonably simple (I was doing it 15 years ago - the key is to track in feature-space (region features: circularity, RGB, connectivity, 1st- and 2nd-order parameters) rather than just using image intensity. Using relations between features gives you context and thus more contextual information).
Consider that if you can track individuals within crowds, and given a covert surveillance system (eg: London, UK) you can track indivduals from locality to locality. You can start to (automatically) build circles-of-trust where individuals who meet regularly are automatically associated.
Consider that biometric information is now being put forward (eg: fingerprints, DNA samples, Iris scans, head ratios (eye:nose:chin parameters) and other observable information) and encoded within a compulsory identity card
Consider the amalgamation of this automatic identification, automatic relation of associates, and automatic recognition of individuals. Consider the implications. And yet a "Labour" government (the "People's" party!) is putting this forward in the UK.
I am fortunate. I am planning to emigrate this year to the US from the UK - previously I thought the UK (despite the lack of consitution) had a reality more responsive to the people and their ideals than the US. No more. I am one of the lucky ones that Joseph "Blunkett" Stalin will have no hold over. I feel deeply for my erstwhile compatriots. Freedom, after all, is a state of mind, and mind control is a tool of (this UK) government.
Simon.
Physicists get Hadrons!
Well, it's about time for kids to start wearing tinfoil hats.
The IT section color scheme sucks.
Its a nice step up from the Leash that some mothers seem to employ upon thier crying 5 year olds.
I wonder how they'll get a wifi tracker out of a kids stomach?
Thats where some of my sisters lego ended up.
It shouldn't just give the location of the child. For a lot of people, that's totally useless. Most people couldn't tell you the difference between latitude/longitude and UTM coordinates. Instead, it should guide them to their child... let the parents page through instructions. Not only would this be more useful for them, they could get charged by the page, so our corporate overlords should be pleased as well (afterall, reuniting a parent and child isn't satisfying enough).
Secondly, what ever happened to Darwinism? The lost children should starve and/or form their own feral societies. Only the best would survive to re-enter society, hopefully as very productive, since they'll have lots of useful skills.
Lastly, where the hell are all the wolves? Aren't they supposed to take care of the lost children?
First post? I doubt it...
Down with Saudi Arabia!!!
At Legoland?
Seriously? What could an ADULT do at Legoland that would require privacy?
This works only WITHIN THE GROUNDS at Legoland.
Privacy concerns, anybody?
None what so ever. You pay to borrow a bracelet, don't want it - don't rent it. And you hand it over when you leave. Only thing someone can do is track the kid while in the park, and usually most of the kids are with their parents. There are hardly anything underhanded you can do in an amusement park anyway.
If Google really cared they would fix Android Chrome to reflow text, instead of discriminating
...you get to put it together first!
Show me on the doll where his noodly appendage touched you.
Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen has already installed that a month ago, and before them another park in Jutland - so they are a bit late :)
If Google really cared they would fix Android Chrome to reflow text, instead of discriminating
Eh?? Wouldn't a Paedophile follow their target around waiting for a moment of parent's in-attention? How would knowing the coordinates help this? Besides the parents could always register their cell phone numbers upon entry to the park. Not to mention only the parents are going to have their childId to lookup the location.
See my sig for why I think this kind of paranoia about technology is rediculous.
"I can not bring myself to believe that if knowledge presents danger, the solution is ignorance" - Isaac Asimov
Doesn't this just provide paedos with a free kiddie tracking system?
Yes, because otherwise, kids are so hard to find at LEGOLAND
We plop kids in front of TVs and now we let them run around amusement parks alone? Yes, I understand that this is probably intended for kids who get away from their parents, but you know some parent is going to sit somewhere with a laptop tracking their kid and not actually keeping an eye on them. I'm horrified.
~~Guildencrantz
Penguin Trivia #46: Animals who are not penguins can only wish they were. -- Chicago Reader 10/15/82
I'm normally opposed to this sort of thing, but in a place like a theme park this sounds great. Assuming that the tag could be hired from the theme park, you need only use it while you are there.
When you are in a place which the parent or the kid knows reasonably well, you can easily arrange a good meeting place if you get seperated, and the kid has a reasonable chance of finding it. OTOH, most people only go to a theme park occasionally: even if you do decide on a meeting place, you could easily get lost en route to it.
It could also help if the child is with the other (custodial) parent: the first parent can quickly check whether other parent is still queueing for a ride, or has gone onto designated meeting spot. Dh and I have tried using mobiles, but as dh's mobile is his work phone he is too likely to get work related calls for it to be particularly useful on his day off.
OK, you're right :). Until all cities have one wifi connection covering it, not much of a privacy concern- but just to clear up something:
it doesn't only work at legoland. this page says that "Bluesoft's Aeroscout(TM) wireless LAN location system is a novel technology platform that location-enables a standard Wi-Fi wireless network". So even if you have the tag and the location system, it would only work within a Wi-Fi connection (and that's ANY wi-fi area, NOT just legoland's)
I see no privacy concerns at all. I fact I think this is the PERFECT application for this type of technology that keeps the Tinfoil hat crowd up all night:
-It doesn't work everywhere, only in the park
-It's temporary
-You have to opt in
-It's actually useful
The only drawback is that someone who is already a "Bad Parent" might use this as an opportunity to not keep an eye on their child.
Thus this is a nice way to get parents to consent to having their motions tracked as they move throughout Legoland, under the guise of helping "the children."
Imagine it... If you had a giant database of people's movements as they go through the park, you can more strategically position the food vending carts, move the rides and displays around in order to maximize the "candy aisle effect," etc.
I take it you haven't been in a place like that with 4 kids.
Gutless AC.
Which may be precisely the problem. "Peace of mind" causing parents to be inattentive, incautious, and careless. And when the systems goes down, as it inevitably will? Will there be civil liability, or will the parents have to sign a waiver of liability when they rent the wrist band for their child?
When the system goes down, will a child be lost, kidnapped, hurt, etc. that otherwise would not have been because his parents relied on the system instead of knowing that they, and only they were responsible for keeping track of their child?
Perhaps the analogy is a bad one, but this reminds me a bit of the problem national parks are having with people who *rely* on GPS and/or their cell phones to keep them out of trouble. No wilderness or outdoor skills, no ability to use a compass or read a map, and half of the time no jacket. But they figure as long as they have their cell phones, they'll be ok. And when they can't get reception, the battery goes dead, or they drop it.....
Only Women Bleed (Sex, Sharia remix)
>"...giving them the accurate location of their child."
Actually, it will give them the location of the wristband.
I see what you mean, scary stuff. "Excuse me sir, but could you put on this wristband? Perfectly innocent, I assure you." Then the hapless fool walks away, oblivious to the fact that, as long as he stays within range of the Legoland WiFi system, some nefarious evildoer can track his every move. Creepy.
I am Sartre of the Borg. Existence is futile.
I'd gnaw off the wrist band and flush it down the toilet. The ensuing search in the sewer system by rescue teams should prove amusing...
"There is no spoon." - The Matrix
My first thought was, "What, a CF card on each kid with a little microcontroller where you have to cha[r|n]ge the batteries every day?"
Then I looked at the website for the tags - 5 years worth of service, regular MAC address, only transmits occasionally, never receives.
Way geeky, I think. I'd like to know what kind of 802.11 packet they're transmitting!
Then I read the comments. Are all you guys privacy geeks, or what? What happened to all the "Cool technology! How'd they do that? etc" comments, consequences be darned (as in fixing holes in socks)
Ah well. So much for *real* geeks.
-Adam
... I was more concerned with acurately tracking all of my lego pieces!
My other sig is a Porsche!
Sorry. Lost track of time. I'll have her home by 8:00 PM.
But that's only if there's a route to the kid. If a router goes down somewhere it could look like the kid is dead.
Police: "I'm sorry. I can't ping your son. I'm afraid he may be dead."
Mother faints. Father starts crying.
Police: "Oh wait. There it goes. A router just went down in seattle for a few seconds. I hope I didn't scare you. Say, is your wife OK?"
'Standards' in computing only impress those who are impressed by things like 'standards'.
Privacy concerns? Not really. Paedophile concerns? Yes.
It's posts like this that will probably bring to life a new abbreviation:
RTFP: Read The F---ing Post
I mean, sheesh. I can understand not RTFA but not even reading the text in front of you?
Perhaps, when you post, there should be a "I'm feeling lucky" option where your post is inserted randomly into any article that's currently on the home page?
I have no problem with your religion until you decide it's reason to deprive others of the truth.
And if you're worried about said paedophile cracking the (presumably) secure system to somehow tie a unique braclet ID to a person, I'd be more worried about said cracker breaking into the billing system and getting the credit card data I used to buy the tickets.
As the parent said, the biggest risk is that some negligent parents will decide that such a system obviates the need to actually keep an eye on their kid. As the saying goes, if you make it idiot-proof, someone somewhere will just build a better idiot...