Augmented reality is frivolous, we're told. It's mainly for gimmicks and games. But an important transformation is about to get under way. Starting next year, AR will begin transforming enterprise communications, logistics, manufacturing, analytics, product design, training, marketing, field service and more.

A new low-cost, digital seal has been developed for the CORE (Consistently Optimised REsilient Secure Global Supply-Chains) European Research Project by Dutch software company Itude Mobile.

Although the cost of tags, readers and software has been dropping in recent years, RFID deployments are still unaffordable for many companies seeking item-level inventory tracking.

London's Gatwick Airport has installed 2,000 Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons across its two terminals to help passengers navigate their way to flights, as well as receive push notifications. The beacon system, known as the "indoor blue dot," was provided by Pointr Labs.

For the past month, some miners in Turkey's Taurus Mountains have been wearing Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons as part of a real-time location system (RTLS) to help their employers view their location. The Leantegra BLE system, provided by telecom technology company Tagvance, enables the mine to meet federal regulations recently enacted by the Turkish government, in order to ensure that miners can be located at any time when in tunnels.

Michigan Medicine, one of the largest healthcare complexes in the world, has deployed active RFID technology to track thousands of assets throughout its facility, the hospital says. The technology is intended to reduce rental costs, as well as the rate of missing equipment as the healthcare provider expands further.