By Chris Scott Barr
Have you ever been sent a package, only to wonder where exactly it is a few days later? Sure, you can look up the tracking number and have the carrier give you an idea. However, that isn’t exactly up-to-the-minute information. It also doesn’t tell you what pitfalls befell your poor package during transit. FedEx has decided to solve these issues by introducing a gadget that will tell you everything about your package during its journey.
Aimed at the medical industry, SenseAware is a device that can be dropped into any package to monitor the transit. During this time it uses an accelerometor, light sensor, cellular transmitter and a GPS receiver to gather data about how the package is treated, whether it was opened and its exact location. You can then log onto the corresponding website and check this information at any time.
Right now the service is too pricey for most people, however the $120 per month fee isn’t too outrageous when you’re shipping out fragile and irreplaceable items like transplant organs. I imagine that the cost will go down over the next few years, and you’ll start to see more businesses take advantage of it.
