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The wallet G.P.S.

 call your lost wallet and find it's location
  (+5, -2)
(+5, -2) 		  [vote for,
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A small chip that can be sewn into a wallet that is durable to withstand heat and friction. It would be linked to a satellite tracking system that is monitored by computers. Someone calls into the hot-line after losing their wallet. The person enters their chip # and the computer locates the wallet with the sattelite. It then displays the location to the phone with the exact place the wallet is... and then I read your posts of other related items just to find out that a g.p.s. doesnt work indoors. but there must be something......... oh well Im just half baked anyway.
—Linden Tree, Jul 27 2005

(?) Indoor GPS http://www.u-blox.c...ogy/supersense.html
[FarmerJohn, Jul 27 2005]

(?) Reading distance record attempt http://www.makezine...defcon_rfid_wo.html
Doesn't say explicitly that it was a passive tag. [half, Aug 06 2005]

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       hi [Linden Tree] and welcome to the HB. Erm. you've said yourself that GPS has limitations here's some more:

it requires power

they're not quite small enough to sew into anything except big wallets

A gps unit, in itself, would typically only tell the wallet where it is, not you.

Can I suggest deleting this idea, and lurking around a bit before posting your next ?
—neilp, Jul 27 2005
   

       I suppose g.p.s was a misuse of a common idea. The idea I was meaning is more along the lines of a computer tracking chip, like the ones they started to implant into children, dogs and the like. To prevent kidnapping and dogs from getting lost. It's something I had recently watched about on some show on sci-fi network. I still think it's a plausable idea, if I were to have used the proper phrasing and explanation.
—Linden Tree, Jul 27 2005
   

       Aren't those the ones you need to scan to get the info from?
—pooduck, Jul 27 2005
   

       While I find the basic idea very attractive, I agree with neilp that it is currently unfeasible, power supply being the main issue. That is, if you implement this using a miniature GPS & GSM unit - these technologies require significant amounts of power.   

       RFID chips could solve the power issue, however as pooduck remarked, you need to put these near a RFID scanner which supplys power via induction (only works if the RFID chip is feet away).
—t s rochester, Jul 27 2005
   

       RFID would work if the wallet was in a store which used RFID chips for its merchandise (not a million years away, perhaps). If somebody stole your wallet and took it into a store, then this would be handy. Unlikely, though.   

       //if I were to have used the proper phrasing and explanation// you can always edit your ideas, you know. Welcome to the HB, by the way.
—moomintroll, Jul 27 2005
   

       I don't s'pose you need GPS for this you could use a radio transmitter embedded in the wallet and use a receiver to locate it by signal strength which would indicate direction and distance. Old school but still works.
—pooduck, Jul 27 2005
   

       RE: RFID - There are claims of passive RFID read distances of 4 meters currently --- with expectations of achieving 8 meters in the future --- using UHF band radio transmitter and backscatter detection techniques as opposed to induction of voltage to power the remote transmitter circuit. 4 - 8 meter read distance might help if you retrace your steps and the wallet hasn't moved, but that whole satellite tracking thing just isn't in the picture with any sort of passive technology that I've heard of (not that I've heard of everything, I'm just saying...).   

       I can see the "long distance" passive RFID tags working well for locating items (wallet, keys, etc.) within your house, install a scanner in each room and report to a central computer.
—half, Jul 27 2005
   

       Funny I'm just discovering this now. I came up with just such an idea after some jackass IN A STORE stole my wallet off the checkout counter. (Yes, partially my fault, I stepped away to have a conversation with the store manager off to the side--she had been helping me with a store credit.) I forgot about it and headed out the front door, immediately realized I'd left my wallet, and when I went back in it was gone. I didn't see anything, didn't see who took it, didn't know what to do--but the nagging thought kept returning that if I had some kind of tracking device, I could follow that person and tackle them!   

       Okay--so maybe tackling's too vigilante. But seriously, why isn't this a thing? Why isn't a common practice by now? We must have the technology.   

       In the meantime, maybe we could at least have a super loud beeping device you could trigger to track down your wallet if you think it's still in the vicinity. It would certainly freak out the thief! Like this:   

       http://www.beepingwallet.com/
—julco, Oct 30 2006
   

       Nothing wrong with the swift justice that only a vigilante can bring.
—Custardguts, Oct 30 2006
   


 

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