RFID tags can transform paper into an Internet of Things device

Researchers at University of Washington and Disney Research have developed a method that gives sensing capabilities to a piece of paper, so it becomes responsive to gesture commands and can connect to the digital world. The PaperID technology involves the use of inexpensive RFID tags that can be stuck onto paper and then detected by the antenna of a reader device. There is also the alternative of having the pattern of a tag’s antenna drawn on paper with conductive ink. When a person’s hand touches or covers a tag, the hand disturbs the signal path between an individual tag and its reader. Algorithms can recognise the specific movements and interpret it as a command. For example, swiping a hand over a tag placed on a pop-up book might cause the book to play a specific, programmed sound. More details here and here.