Innovision R&T launches lowest cost smart ticket for mass transit

The British RFID and electronics solutions provider Innovision Research

& Technology plc will unveil the smallest and lowest-cost Radio

Frequency Identification (RFID) chip ever produced for smart ticketing

applications this week.


Innovision R&T's chip, known as Jewel, will be launched at the

International Union of Public Transport (UITP) Automatic Fare

Collection Conference in Bologna, Italy, taking place from 4-6

February 2004.


With a silicon area approximately 30 percent smaller than the nearest

competitor's product, the new RFID tag is inexpensive to produce. Until

now the cost of mass transit smart tickets has been relatively high,

but Jewel will enable companies to produce convenient, low-cost, ISO

14443A-compatible contactless tickets suitable for deployment with

existing ticket types and in virtually any type of public

transportation system.


"Innovision R&T's developments in RFID tag production will mean that

contactless ticketing will no longer be the preserve of high-value

season tickets," says Trevor Crotch-Harvey, Innovision R&T's Director

of Sales. "By driving the cost of chip production down, we have made

smart card technology economically viable for use in daily, weekly,

occasional and complex-pattern journeys that 21st century commuters

and travellers frequently make."


Compatible with international standards -- including ISO 14443A -- and

included in the UK transport standard ITSO version 2.1, Jewel is

interoperable with existing mass transit fare collection systems.


Because Jewel-based tickets are contactless, neither the ticket nor the

reading device is susceptible to the wear and tear of conventional

magnetic-stripe systems, and therefore requires minimal maintenance for

ticket reading machinery.


Widespread deployment of contactless ticketing will allow

transportation managers to collect more refined travel and journey

management information, enabling them to develop more efficient

timetables, reduce costs and delays, and improve safety. Jewel also

offers travellers convenience: because they are interrogated by a

radio signal reader device, Jewel smart tickets do not require

line-of-sight, so users need not remove their tickets from their

wallets or purses.


Innovision R&T is now working in partnership with mass transit

operators and ticket converters across the globe to design the next

generation of smart tickets for 21st century travel.


Notes To Editors


About Innovision Research & Technology plc


Founded in 1994, Innovision Research & Technology plc is an electronics

solutions provider and a major player in the Radio Frequency

Identification (RFID) industry.


Through the creation, development and licensing of technologies,

Innovision R&T provides innovative solutions to a wide variety of

enterprises, including some of the world's largest companies. A

growing team of more than 50 personnel and commercial expertise honed

in the industry's most challenging sectors enables Innovision R&T to

support the entire RFID design process from concept development

through to production engineering. Innovision R&T works in close

partnership with its customers to drive commercial success and deliver

competitive value.


Innovision R&T is listed on the Alternative Investment Market of the

London Stock Exchange (Ticker Symbol: INN). Its head office is in

Wokingham, Berkshire, UK.


For more information, see www.innovision-group.com


Media Enquiries

Stephen Fleming or Martin Stabe at Palam Communications

(formerly Schael)

Tel +44 (0) 1635 299116

Fax +44 (0) 1635 299115

Email sfleming@palam.co.uk mstabe@palam.co.uk


General Enquiries

Ian Lavigne

Innovision Research & Technology plc

Ash Court, 23 Rose Street, Wokingham, Berkshire RG40 1XS, United

Kingdom

Tel +44 (0) 118 936 6362

Fax +44 (0) 118 979 1500

Email ianl@innovision-group.com