May 5 2004

Two wireless application companies have teamed up with LegoLand in Denmark to introduce a full-scale WiFi tracking service. Bluesoft and KidSpotter claim that the new system will enable parents to keep constant tabs on the movement of their children, whilst meandering round the plastic-brick theme park. It is, the companies confidently announced, the world’s largest WiFi location network service.

One of the main players in the building project, Dorte Tegllund of Lego explained: "The separation of parents and their children is one of the greatest perennial concerns in the theme park industry, causing distress to many of our 1.6 million visitors annually. The new system has allowed us to bring this separation time down to an absolute minimum." Clearly Tegllund does not side with those parents who believe that separation time should be extended rather than cut down.

LegoLand’s motives are not completely altruistic, they will charge parents to rent small AeroScout WiFi Tags. The tags are kept on wristbands that the children wear inside the park. Should the kids become separated from their adult companions, the parents simply send a text message from their mobile phones and receive an immediate response pinpointing the whereabouts of their offspring (queuing at McDonald’s).

The system also enables the theme park owners to closely monitor visitor movement around the plastic brick landscape, allowing them to analyse which models are attracting most attention from the youngsters (McDonald’s). The solution is based on Bluesoft’s AeroScout System, a real-time location system which can accurately locate WiFi devices and the company’s own RFID tags, both indoors and outdoors.