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Tokyo's Akihabara District to Test Electronic Guides
posted on by Egan Loo
Akihabara, Tokyo's shopping district for electronics and popular culture, will test a new electronic guide system that uses free IC (integrated circuit) cards and street-mounted data terminals starting October 19. Akiba Wonder, a joint project of Ubiquitious Authentication & Agent, Osaka University, and Hitachi, will give away 10,000 cards in and near Akihabara. The cards have unique RFID (radio frequency identification) chips that allow users to get customized shopping, dining, and event information from the streetside terminals. The service will also host a bulletin board system — accessible from the terminals, personal computers, or mobile phones — for users to provide each other tips.
The project has installed five experimental terminals in the Akiba UDX building, the Asobit Game City store, the Ishimaru Denki Soft 2 store, and other locations in Akihabara. The pilot test will run from October 19 to October 28, and again from November 16 to November 30.
Source: Daily Yomiuri, Akiba Keizai Shimbun
Image © 2007 Ubiquitious Authentication & Agent
