A number of Irish companies are taking advantage of wireless devices to develop new products and services

A serious game of tag

KIDSPOTTER

Cases such as the disappearance of Madeleine McCann last May in the resort of Praia da Luz in Portugal highlight the importance of child safety in today's world. Dublin-based start-up Kidspotter has introduced new technology which will allow parents and security staff in venues to track and monitor children.

KidSpotter is a location-based services company with the world's first child-in-motion tracking system for use in venues such as theme parks, leisure centres, shopping centres and other high footfall environments.

In the event of a child getting separated from a guardian, KidSpotter, using wireless or mobile technologies, enables the guardian to monitor the movement of the child and allow for a speedy repatriation through their mobile phone and simple SMS messaging, according to Liam Darling, director of the company.

"We use WiFi, GPRS, RFID, whatever the most suitable technology is for a venue or for the application," explains Darling. "So it is open-sourced to all platforms and infrastructure."

KidSpotter also gives the guardian peace of mind with the knowledge that their child cannot leave the environs of the venue without an alarm on the tag being activated and the venue security being notified.

"When you go into your theme park, you rent a little tag and put it on the child. You then send a text to register your mobile phone against that tag, and then we track it. The tag is activated through the text and it is live on the system. If the child becomes separated from you, you can send the word 'help' to the text number and it will return the location of the child," says Darling.

Security and customer service staff in a venue will also be alerted. The tags weigh less than 50 grammes and are waterproof, splashproof, dustproof and tamper proof. If attempts are made to tamper with the tag, security staff are alerted.

The company has already signed a contract to supply the technology to UK leisure company Bourne Leisure, which has 55 venues and seven million customers. It is also in negotiations with another leisure operator which will give it access to 13 million customers. "At the moment we are selling business to business essentially to get the product into people's hands and into people's way of thinking," says Darling.

Flexibility on the move

MOBILE TRAVEL TECHNOLOGIES

Most business travellers know the frustration of trying to change travel arrangements when they are on the move.

Up to now they have not had the means to make their own electronic travel reservations or manage their bookings through mobile handsets, as they can through regular internet-connected PCs. But an Irish company is aiming to change that.

Mobile Travel Technologies (MTT) is a technology specialist, providing a mobile platform called M2B to open up the mobile channel for suppliers and intermediaries, such as airlines, hotels and car rental firms.

The company recently teamed up with Dallas-based Pegasus Solutions, a global leader in providing technology and services to hotels and travel distributors, to use its M2Bed product to enable a new distribution channel, allowing hotels to offer guests booking and customer service via their mobile devices.

The new mobile-reservation services, compatible with virtually any mobile device, will allow guests to use their mobile phone or PDAs' standard mobile internet browser to make reservations, check booking details and view hotel information, according to Gerry Samuels, executive director of MTT.

"We will license our technology to airlines, to hotel chains and to travel intermediaries, such as the online travel agencies," he says. "We are a technology enabler. We are not a brand nor are we trying to be a brand: we are providing the technology that will power the mobile services of airlines, hotels and travel agencies."

MTT is also understood to be close to a deal to provide its technology to a major low-cost airline.

Its m2plane is a comprehensive and intelligent mobile platform that enables airlines to make available their existing website and functionality, and new mobile specific services, including check-in/barcode boarding pass, to mobile phones and PDAs.

Mobile check-in brings the efficiency of self-service check-in to travellers who do not have access to regular PC web check-in - if they are overseas, for example - and in airports with no or limited numbers of kiosks, says Samuels.

Home help in a new way

VALENTIA TECHNOLOGIES

Changing demographics, primarily ageing populations, are going to put enormous strain on modern healthcare systems.

"The only way you can properly cater for an ageing population is by developing technologies where people can be more effectively monitored and managed in normal living environments or domiciliary settings that are not conventional healthcare settings," says Peter Nelson, chief executive of Valentia Technologies, a developer of mobile and wireless healthcare technology targeted at pre-hospital emergency and community healthcare monitoring and support.

Valentia Technologies' CareMonX Home Appliance is an advanced healthcare system that facilitates two-way real-time interaction between a patient and their healthcare and social-services team, as well as with family and friends. The appliance also integrates with healthcare monitoring devices in the home, such as movement detectors and fall alarms, allowing data generated from the devices to be incorporated into a single platform.

Service components include medication reminders, nutritional advice, appointment management and contacts with social team members and family. Valentia has also developed a pre-hospital emergency care system which is being used by the Irish ambulance service. Utilising easy-to-use digital pen and paper technology, emergency first responders are able to record and transmit incident data in real-time via their PDAs.

Transmitted data can be simultaneously broadcast to multiple emergency services control centres, including ambulance control, fire and police.

Power source

SURFACE POWER TECHNOLOGIES

These days, it seems that there is an abundance of firms offering solar and wind-generated solutions for your energy needs but a Mayo-based developer of next generation renewable technology, Surface Power Technologies, is taking solar power a step further.

It has introduced the utility-connected solar electricity system to Ireland, which allows businesses to slow down their electricity meters by channelling solar generated energy into their electricity network.

"You cover the roof as much as you can with solar PV, and wire that down into a utility inverter," says Caroline McAndrew, marketing manager. "Your inverter is connected into the actual socket in your wall. It actually slows down your meter, so your power is being taken from your renewable source as opposed to your ESB source."

Though you require a licence, the company handles the required licensing, regulatory and network approvals.

Surface Power also announced an investment package for R&D and export growth, provided by private investors, and it will get €400,000 from Údarás na Gaeltachta to support R&D.