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Every year 1,600 willful tykes go AWOL among the 50 million miniature bricks that make up Legoland in Denmark. To keep tabs on these wandering wee-uns, the 1.3-million-square-foot amusement park installed Kidspotter, the first Wi-Fi/RFID tracking network. Park visitors pay 30 kroner (about $5) to rent a child's wristband with a built-in RFID tag, which is linked to the guardian's cell phone number. If the kid runs off, the adult can give chase by text-messaging a Legoland server. In less than 90 seconds, RFID readers throughout the park triangulate the child's location (to within 10 feet) and relay the coordinates to the server via Wi-Fi. The server sends the adult an SMS alert. If the child exits the park, security is notified, too. One way kids can shake their ping-happy parents: hold court inside the impenetrable walls of Titania's Palace.
- Jesse Freund
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Wee-Fi
