Thinfilm NFC Android Technology

Thinfilm is the first company to commercialize printed rewritable memory. The company announced Wednesday the world’s first printed smart label with near field communication (NFC) technology. The Android enabled NFC smart label works to help businesses reduce waste, improve supply chain efficiency and keep consumers safe.

“This successful demonstration represents a critical milestone in Thinfilm’s RF (radio frequency) roadmap and comes just four months after acquiring Kovio, Inc.’s PDPS (printed-dopant polysilicon) technology,” said Davor Sutija, Thinfilm’s CEO. “Our engineering team has made truly impressive progress in a relatively short amount of time and we’re very excited about the many commercial applications for this compelling product.”

Thinfilm uses printed electronics to bring connectivity to disposable goods like food and pharmaceuticals for just a few cents. The Thinfilm NFC Smart Label tracks temperature fluctuation in the supply chain — a major cause of food and pharmaceutical waste — and will allow the seamless exchange of information between the label and NFC-enabled Android phones and tablets.

“Beyond the demonstration itself, it’s important to note that Thinfilm has created a highly versatile, multi-sensor platform that is capable of addressing a range of needs our partners and clients may have,” added Sutija. “Temperature sensing is an area we initially targeted given the market opportunity and demand, but the market has also expressed significant interest in applications that measure time, humidity, mechanical shock, blood oxygen levels, and glucose levels.”

In the system demonstrated at LOPEC, PDPS logic detects that a critical temperature threshold has been exceeded. An NFC-enabled smartphone then wirelessly detects the signal and displays a corresponding alert on the device’s screen. Because the smart label contains a unique ID in addition to the sensor data, it is possible to log the alert in a cloud-based application for further analysis.