Becoming separated from their child at a circus or stadium is one of every parent’s worst nightmares. Norcross, Ga.-based Touchscreen Solutions is addressing that fear by using digital wireless technology for a location and messaging service aimed at theme parks, concert venues, shopping malls, fairs, stadiums and other large park and recreation areas.
“In today’s safety conscious society, this service is expected to be extremely popular,” said Fulton County, Ga., Sheriff Reserve Gary German. “We get lost children and adults at our command posts all day and night. It’s not easy to have to tell people to patiently wait for missing loved ones to return to them, especially when you have no idea where they are.”
The system is named THOMAS for Temporary Host-Operated Message Alert System. Developed by a Canadian company, THOMAS uses a ranging system that operates at 900 MHz within a low bandwidth that doesn’t interfere with cellular frequencies, said Jeff Jarvis, chief executive officer of Touchscreen Solutions.
Users wear a watch-like wristband that uses two-way paging principles adapted for “position-finding” purposes, the company said. THOMAS works with a network of free-standing kiosks placed throughout a venue. The network is able to determine the height of an individual according to the signal strength emitted from the wristband to the antennae on the kiosk. The system can find the location of a person by determining where antenna signals intersect.
When a child or adult becomes separated from a parent or group, their location can be determined at one of the kiosks. THOMAS displays the location of the kiosk as well as the location of the wristband transceiver of the missing person. In an emergency situation, THOMAS discretely alerts venue security and automatically displays a digital picture of the missing person at all venue entrances and exits.
The system was developed as a nonintrusive message and alert system. It provides temporary e-mail and park information, as well as messages such as “Check the nearest THOMAS touchscreen unit for a message,” or “Your reservation is in 20 minutes.”
