By James Klein, Larta VOX Editor

In the future, we won't lose anything. Advances in global positioning system technology allow users to easily pinpoint the location of any object on earth. GPS boards have been reduced to the size of a postage stamp. Soon, we could attach GPS locators to everything we own - cell phones, briefcases, wallets - and even our children.

GPS products are being developed for child safety and parental supervision, personal protection, Alzheimer and memory loss supervision, law enforcement, animal identification, property tracking, and a host of other applications. New systems enable customers to obtain real-time location information through the Internet, their mobile phone, Palm Pilot, pager, or any wireless device.

The size of GPS devices has been reduced by employing a scheme in which the GPS device does not need line-of-sight clearance to a satellite, but instead uses a triangulation technique that involves catching reflected signals. The resulting miniaturization opens up many other possible applications for GPS products and services. In addition, unlike traditional GPS, many products can now even be used inside buildings, tunnels, malls and cars.

The U.S. government recently spent $18 billion on 12 additional GPS satellites for private sector use to help accommodate anticipated increases in GPS use.

Some products employ a perimeter-based system that alerts the user when a child or pet wanders outside a pre-determined boundary. The user is then automatically alerted, and location information is sent immediately to their chosen receiver (PDA, cell phone, 2-way pager, web site, monitoring service company, etc.). Another product provides home and group monitoring systems for tracking Alzheimer patients. One company markets an implantable identification microchip the size of a grain of rice, primarily for use with pets, livestock, or other valuable animals.

Electronic monitoring systems for the law enforcement market are also gaining in popularity. Systems consist of a tamper-proof tag worn on the wrist or ankle that transmits a wireless signal to a monitoring station. Through this system, an offender can be monitored within a designated geographic area, such as a home, workplace, or prison.

Car rental agencies are have used GPS devices since the mid-1990s to track their automobiles and find out when customers do not comply with boundary regulations.

Other GPS products are being implemented to comply with the "Enhanced 911" or "E911" wireless mandate. The E911 rules seek to improve the effectiveness and reliability of wireless 911 service by providing 911 dispatchers with additional location information on wireless 911 calls, greatly enhancing the ability of fire and police departments to locate emergencies.

Tracking Children

Child abduction is one of parents' greatest fears, and speed is the most crucial factor in child abduction cases. According to the FBI, the first 2-4 hours in a stranger abduction is the most critical to the children's survival. According to a study by the U.S. Department of Justice, 74 percent of children who were abducted, and later found murdered, are murdered in the first hours after being taken.

Parents are looking for ways, short of implanting a chip in their children, to keep track of them. Several products have been developed for monitoring children. GPS-based wristwatches, necklaces, and units that can be clipped to a belt or an article of clothing are available, but these items could be easily recognized by potential kidnappers, and are often intentionally removed for swimming and other activities.

An ideal location for a child location device would be to plant the hardware on an item the children are not likely to remove, such as their shoes.

One company has produced just such a device. GTX Corp., which develops location-finding products and services for parents, outdoor adventurers, law enforcement, military, pet owners and others, has introduced a system using a patent-pending interchangeable GPS module that can be implanted in children's shoes. The company will first launch the product in an agreement with Bizo brand footwear, a manufacturer of skateboarding shoes, and hopes to have their products in other brands of shoes in the near future.

The GTX system would work this way: A parent purchases a pair of shoes for their child at the GTX website or a selected retailer. The GPS chip is then programmed with the child's and the parent's personal information by inputting data online to a central database. The child is then remotely monitored and the parent is notified via email, pager, or cell phone when any of several parameters are broken.

The company is developing three components in its revenue model: GPS location reporting products that consumers purchase; a recurring subscription-based internet data-monitoring service that tracks the GPS units; and licensing opportunities to major shoe and other apparel manufacturers.

"In today's increasingly unsettled world, parents are looking to technology for reliable and pragmatic ways to help track and safeguard their children," says Patrick Bertagna, CEO of GTX Corp. "By integrating a new breed of wireless location-finding technology into the sole of a child's shoe, our product fits easily into any lifestyle, while being hidden from view. It utilizes a state-of-the-art GPS tracking system, for unprecedented accuracy and dependability. And our innovative Geo-Fence feature even lets parents customize different levels of monitoring. We've partnered with Bizo shoes, a stylish skateboard/sports shoe that's popular with teens and pre-teens. And we're currently evaluating a wide range of complementary marketing and distribution partners. Our mission is to deliver peace of mind to parents in a solution that fits."

The potential market for GTX products is enormous. There are 58 million children under the age of 14. In addition, the latest marketing estimates from two market studies conclude that the wireless location services market will generate between $7 billion and $8 billion in revenue over the next four years.

GTX Wireless can be contacted through Rocky Springstead, their representative at Fidelys, an investment banking and corporate advisory services company, at 213 765-4832 or rspringstead@fidelys.net.

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