The Interactive Badge (IB) helps conference and meeting delegates to find people with aligned interests effectively. Aligned interests could be a simple matching of supply and demand or a meeting of minds.
To achieve this, an interactive, wireless conference badge is being developed. The badge operates through Radio Frequency (RF) signals .The badge communicates with all other badges within its vicinity and checks compatible interests and profiles.
The Interactive Badge consists of two parts:
- The base badge (or badge holder) with the electronics and software necessary to communicate (send and receive) data to find a matching interest.
- A smart card/paper ID customized with the wearer’s interests/profile. This information is gathered through a matching questionnaire at the time of conference registration . The information is coded and encrypted into the smart card/ paper ID. The smart card/paper ID will double as a regular conference pass when printed with the delegate’s details like personal and company name.
By placing the programmed smart card/ Paper ID in the badge holder the Interactive Badge is activated and will start to operate. During operation the Interactive Badge will send and receive matching data and will use this to calculate matching probabilities. When a match is made, the two badges that match will emit a discreet attention signal and light up for a period of time. Thus the wearers of the badge are made aware of a match in their near vicinity and know who to approach.
Benefits/Value of Interactive Badge:
- The Interactive Badge uses a reliable and well proven RF technology;
- Improved electronics technology ensures that the Interactive Badge is light and slim (close to a regular conference pass);
- By focusing on one application only(networking) we ensure that the Interactive Badge is cost effective and easy to use: “Monkey Proof”;
- The Matching Questionnaire Software is compatible with existing Registration Software;
- Answering the matching questions only takes a few minutes;
- Conference organizers can use a match simulator prior to the conference to check the matching % they should use;
- Return on Investment increases as delegates meet the “right” people to do business.
In short it is a fun, innovative, easy and effective way to improve networking!
