Solutions in the Built Environment

There are phones that 'see'

The Seeingeyephone has been designed to help visually impaired supermarket shoppers.

A Near Field Communication (NFC) tag containing information about store products, such as price and nutritional information, is attached to the store shelf next to the product, allowing customers to hold an NFC-enabled mobile phone to the tag. The phone can then read the information aloud using a voice synthesizer.

ICT and security: R&D

The convergence of information, communication, and security technology is generating new solutions and services. It is also stepping up industry alliances and forcing security companies to quickly adapt to changing circumstances.

A team of researchers at Lund University in Sweden, has initiated a four-year research programme together with ASSA ABLOY, Securitas and AXIS Communication to monitor the situation and anticipate future demands and developments facing the security sector. Their reports analyse the challenges from both a business and technological perspective.

“A holistic approach to security is necessary in a time when most companies’ core assets are no longer physical, but based on information, data and reputation,” says researcher Benjamin Weaver, adding that convergence between IT security and physical security requires companies to adopt a new look at risk management.