Gaetano Borriello, a University of Washington computer scientist has developed a working prototype of a smart swatch system.

Like pretty anything called “smart” these days, it works with RFID tags.

The wristwatch acts as an interface, driven by a personal server the wearer can carry in a pocket, but which will eventually be a part of the wristwatch itself. Important items are labeled with RFID tags and RFID readers are installed at various locations to read the tags.

The UW smart watch system works as follows: an RFID reader senses the tags on, say, your books, relays the data to the personal server in your pocket. The server checks if anything has been forgotten, and if so, it sends a prompt to the wristwatch to alert you.

The server also takes into account the last known location of items, your calendar and where you may be going.

�This is really part of a larger effort to create an RFID-enabled building, a sort of microcosm of what society would be like if these things take off,� said Borriello who hopes to have a building-wide system up and running within a year.

Via Washington Engineer.