The Trackable Last HOPE Conference Badge


While Defcon badges have taken on the habit of being hackable electronics, The Last Hope badge is taking a new shape this year. It’s dubbed the Attendee Meta-Data project (AMD for short). Aside from the tombstonian dimensions, it features a trackable RFID tag that’s going to be used to create a different sort of conference experience.

Sure, the creators might use the badges to make sure they meet all the lovely ladies in attendance, but the idea is to use the data to improve the conference experience for everyone. Attendees have the ability to add tags indicating their interests. Combine that data with actual location tracking and people can now network and interact based on what and who they’re looking for. It’s social networking coming full circle to include actual socializing.

6 thoughts on “The Trackable Last HOPE Conference Badge

  1. I’m not going, but I would treat this the same as all the other rfid tags I run into…put it in a microwave or smash it with a hammer.

    Really guys? Rfid at a hacker con? The feds must be drooling uncontrollably.

  2. “…can now network and interact…” implies that this is something new. Far from it! First developed at the MIT Media Lab at least 5 years ago, the concept has been spun off into a company called nTAG, and there are various experimental implementations out there.

  3. ck76, participation in the rfid badge program is voluntary… you can get a badge sans chip on request. The point (I think) was to explore something that shortly will be ubiquitous. How easy is the system to hack? Can it be used for fun or useful purposes? Hammer wielders and badge microwavers are missing the point.

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