Hands-free luggage has obvious concerns

To the editor,

A recent technology conference, CES 2018, demonstrated many of the toys and tools we may be using in a few years although one was of particular interest — hands-free luggage. They use a smartphone app to follow their owner.

This initially sounds like an useful device although the constant fear of hacking presents some concerning possibilities.

It could be a fun afternoon at the airport taking over the signals and doing some choreography with a number of suitcases or maybe a game of hide and seek as they disappear to the dark corners of the airport. A lost signal and it becomes lost luggage, which is not a unique experience at the airport.

There is also something for the speed demons as they determine which brand has the highest speed. I, however, would just get a dozen or so and combine them to form a “magic carpet” to take me to the boarding gates. There are many other possibilities, including, I am sure, some malicious ones.

A new idea that needs some further development before I use one or play with someone else’s. Dennis Fitzgerald Melbourne, Australia