New wearable RFID technology for AsReader and partner Teijin Frontier wins accolades while gaining marketplace momentum

A new wearable RFID device from Japan-based AsReader and Teijin Frontier just achieved FCC/FDA approval in the USA. The device is called RecoHand™

PORTLAND, OREGON, UNITED STATES, July 19, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ -- A new Wearable RFID device from two Japan-based tech manufacturers — AsReader and Teijin Frontier — is making waves having just achieved FCC/FDA approval in the USA. The device, called RecoHand™, has been shown to manufacturers, logistics and material handling companies and retail giants at several 2024 tradeshows in the USA and UK, including RFID Journal LIVE! 2024, National Retail Federation (NRF24), MODEX2024 and Retail Technology Show (RTS24) in London. Interest in RecoHand has turned to momentum as the device is now shipping to customers after joining the winners circle at RFID Journal LIVE! as a finalist for Best New Product of 2024 award.

“UHF and RAIN RFID devices like the ASR-L251G are great for counting a large number of items quickly, even from a distance,” AsReader’s Paul Whitney said. “But when it comes to just reading one tag at a time, it's not the best technology for that. All wearable RFID readers until now read everything in the area around the RFID reader, and if you went to grab one item, there was no guarantee that you didn't accidentally read the tag of the item right next to it, especially the smaller items such as jewelry pieces where the tags get too close together. With RecoHand™, the reading area is actually just two centimeters, so it's nearly impossible to grab the wrong tag. When you reach for a tag, you can't get the one next to it if you're touching the items one at a time.”

Yuki Kuwabara, product developer for Teijin Frontier said, “RecoHand is terrific for picking, shelving, sorting, inspection, packing, and for any situation where one-to-one scanning is desired. The RecoHand is well suited for logistics; loading and inspection; factory picking and placing in racks; and retail and healthcare picking and packing.”

Teijin Frontier, a well-established textile manufacturer based in Japan for more than a century, makes high-quality technical materials, and they created a technology that confines radio waves. By integrating this technology with the fibers cultivated from their foundational business, they have created an unparalleled UHF wearable reader. RecoHand is the same materialization as a golf glove and was put to use by the Japanese government two years ago. Employees learned to scan bins by running their hands across products, and while grabbing the items they're able to read it simultaneously. Used at hospitals’ warehouses for first responders and COVID-19 response, the Japanese government reported that using RecoHand more than doubled their productivity speed.

Until now, picking has been a two-part process; grab the box, then read it. Now users can grab the box and RecoHand is reading it as they grab it in one motion. It’s important to note that RecoHand does not require re-tagging, as it reads all of the UHF RFID tags people have been using for decades.

Another use for RecoHand employed by a retailer is reading expiration dates on packaged food. A simple touch will show on the screen that the product has an NG for no good or OK if the food is within its Best Buy date. In one motion, as the staff grabs items, they are receiving feedback.

Another problem that RecoHand solves is for logistics, transportation and delivery customers who have found that while delivering packages on “the last mile” and when the delivery vehicle is packed full of packages, if a product is at the package in the back of the van, it can be difficult to find.

Again, this is where RecoHand shines; users can touch the packages and shelve UHF RFID Tags while they load-up, so that when they get to the delivery address they now know where that item is on the shelves, doing it all hands-free and without worry that an incorrect tag could've been mis-scanned.

As well as being a finalist for the Best New Product of 2024 award, accolades for the RecoHand device include being highlighted by RFID Journal as “an engineering win” for “technology to accomplish tasks that weren’t available, or as affordable, in the past…RecoHand was designed for rugged warehouse environments where workers handle products and assets. RecoHand is designed to only read tags within about two centimeters, which means users need to touch (or nearly touch) a tagged object with their gloved hand to read the unique ID on the tag. By doing so, they pinpoint the read to an individual item, even when it may be surrounded by other RFID tags, typically just 2 centimeters.”

More about AsReader:
AsReader, Inc. specializes in AutoID, particularly mobile RFID Readers/Writers, Barcode Scanners, and all things Automatic Identification and Data Capture (AIDC). AsReader, headed by COO Paul Whitney, is an Oregon Corporation and a wholly owned subsidiary of Asterisk, Inc. of Japan. Asterisk was founded in 2006 by charismatic CEO Noriyuki Suzuki and is headquartered in Osaka with additional offices in Tokyo, Kyoto, Shiga, and Nagoya in Japan, Dalian and Shenzhen in China, and Portland, Oregon in the U.S.A. The company went public on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in 2021 (TSE:6522). Major clients include manufacturers Toyota and Kawasaki, retailers Tokyu Hands and Aoyama, over 350 hospitals worldwide, a household-name beverage and snack logistics/transportation company in North America using over 20,000 AsReaders, and well-known package delivery companies in Japan using over 30,000 and 80,000 AsReaders each.

More About Teijin Frontier:
Teijin Frontier is a company that fuses two differing origin stories—as a manufacturer of fibers and as a trading company. The company’s wide-ranging supply chain extending from manufacture of yarns to retail development support its ability to develop highly differentiated products. Teijin Frontier creates and offers a wide range of products and services, from clothing fibers to industrial material fibers, which are not yet on the market.

Sally Murdoch
AsReader
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Paul Whitney and Yuki Kuwabara present benefits of 1:1 scanning for RecoHand