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FISH WITH CHIPS, A NEW OCEANARIUM EXPERIENCE

by Yong Tsuey Ling

A ‘new species’ of fish has arrived at Sentosa’s Underwater World, with a little help from ITE College East. It is the microchip-tagged variety, which is giving visitors to the Underwater World a whole new ‘fishy’ experience.

First of its Kind
For the first time, as many as 20 fish in the Underwater World’s Living Fossil exhibit have microchips planted in their dorsal fin. Each chip holds a unique identity number, which gets picked up by the RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) technology when the fish swims past an antenna/sensor placed on the glass panel of the tank.

An LCD touchscreen located near the tank will display information about the fish, such as its name, species, origin and other general facts, giving visitors an interactive oceanarium experience. No longer would visitors need to read charts and diagrams to find out about the fish swimming in the tank.

“The Sentosa Underwater World boasts the world’s first oceanarium RFID System,” said Curatorial Director Dr Jeffrey Mahon. “Using RFID, we are offering visitors the first interactive oceanarium experience. We hope to enhance their experience without compromising on the attraction,” added Dr Mahon.

Technology Roadmap
Working with the Underwater World, staff from ITE College East looked into the hardware and software. Mr Chua Hock Hai, one of ITE’s Electronics Engineering Lecturers involved, observed: “RFID reacts differently in different medium. We looked hard for a system that could vary its frequency to suit water.” He was helped by fellow lecturer, Mr Fong Kok Wah, who integrated information into the software.

On ITE College East’s contribution, Mr Mervyn Teo, the Section Head of Electronics Engineering, summed up: “Being part of the fish-with-chips project helps build staff capability on wireless technology and aligns us with our technology roadmap.” An initiative of ITE College East, the technology roadmap is developed to strengthen staff capability in wireless technology.