Electro-optic film – the end of shoplifting?

You can have all the security you like, but someone is going to get a couple of DVDs in their pocket and out of the door. But what if stolen disc simply wouldn’t work? Wouldn’t that stop it dead? That’s what US-based Kestrel Wireless believe – and using electro-optic film, it believes it is possible.

So how does it work? Well, each disc has a coating of electro-optic film, which turns transparent via an electric pulse after an RFID chip inside the disc has authorised the process – when the disc has been sold in other words. The idea is being pitched at optical discs, but Kestrel believes any gadget or device could use it – as long as it has a display that can be obscured, making it unuseable. Because if it can’t be used, it’s not worth stealing.

If all that makes sense, here’s a spanner in the works. Firstly, everyone would need to use the kit – if they didn’t, that would mean manufacturing two sets of discs, which would only add to production costs.

Still an interesting idea though – and one that would certainly have good retailer support.

Kestrel Wireless

Via The Register