I Sense a Disturbance in the Force: Unobtrusive Detection of Interactions with RFID-tagged Objects

A novel method to infer interactions with passive RFID tagged objects is described. The method allows unobtrusive detection of human interactions with RFID tagged objects without requiring any modifications to existing communications protocols or RFID hardware. The object motion detection algorithm was integrated into a RFID monitoring system and tested in laboratory and home environments. The paper catalogs the experimental results obtained, provides plausible models and explanations and highlights the promises and future challenges for the role of RFID in ubicomp applications.