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Ohio Anime Con Uses RFID Technology to Track Attendees

Anime Punch, which ran in Columbus, Ohio this past weekend, has become the first anime convention in North America to use radio-frequency identification (RFID) to capture data about attendance at events held throughout its three days. An index card with an RFID transponder was attached to the backs of badges for each of the convention's 1,337 paying attendees, as well as staffers and guests. Information about the location of each transponder, as well as the total number of transponders in certain rooms at any given time, was captured and stored on a central server. Attendees entering the convention's dealers' room had their badges scanned with a reader each time they walked into the room.

This application of RFID technology has been used at professional conferences, such as the Scientific Sessions of the American Heart Association, around the United States in the last two years. This was one of the first times, however, that it has been implemented at a general-audience event.