Findables are just scratching the surface

As an investor and entrepreneur, I tend to judge innovation from the prospective of science fiction. Talking computers, tablets, touch screens, smart devices and self driving cars all made their debut in science fiction. In general, if a technology never showed up in science fiction, it is not something people really want or need.

One of the age old technologies from science fiction is the ability to track, scan, find, and probe things that belong to you, are near you, or are far away. Star Trek fans remember how the away teams can be tracked, locked on to, and even remotely assisted from the ship. Scanners could be used to find something on a planet, and probes can be tracked as they travel far away.

What does this have to do with Findables? Everything! The early version of findables that are around us right now are little bluetooth beacons or large GPS devices that can be attached to things so that you know where they are or where to find them after you lose them. XY, Tile, and TrackR have pioneered this space and sold hundreds of thousands of these “Local Active” devices, but are they really filling the need that Star Trek has shown us that we have?

The early devices are now relevant because they can have batteries that last up to a year and they can use smartphones to relay information to the cloud all at a reasonable price of about $25 per item. For many items, this price is too high, and for other items, the range and need to be close to a smartphone is prohibitive. And what about “scanning” things that do not have “tags” or “beacons” attached to them?

The real need, as defined by Star Trek is one where there are options to be able to passively tag items at mass with very low cost, have active tags that are reasonably priced, but limited in range, and then an item that works anywhere in the world at any range. All this, plus the ability to scan items that are not even tagged at all.

The product line that provides the MAGIC that people want looks like this:

• Scanning Items that are not tagged using sensors in a smartphone, including the camera, radios, and microphone
• Passive Tagging for pennies per item that can be used for sorting, checking in, and checking out, making it easier to scan items with a smartphone’s sensors
• Local Active Tagging for below $10 per item. This is where the current Bluetooth Beacons need to end up for them to be cost effective en mass. This effectively is another way to make items even easier to sense with a smartphone.
• Global Active Tagging for under $30 per item. Without the need of connecting to or relaying through a smartphone, these devices expand the ability for item tracking substantially. The limit for these is the initial cost and the need for an ongoing subscription to connect to the cloud, and battery life. If these cost $30 per item and the annual subscription cost was under $20 per item, and the batteries last for months, people would use these for everything!

All three the pioneering companies in the space have created what is referred to as “Crowd GPS” which makes it so that if a device is near any smartphone with their app, the location is relayed to the cloud, making the appearance of a Globally Active Tag. The concept is sound, but falls short given the lack of large enough install bases, and the cases where a dog runs into the woods far away far any smartphone.

In 2016, all three of these companies are enhancing their product offerings, but you have to ask, are they just making better Bluetooth Beacons, or are they building a system that can fulfill the vision that was put forth by Star Trek and expected by all our users?