The Customer
The company behind the “Squid Game” is a shadowy entity, loathe to be named. They operate in South Korea, but little is known about their background and even less about their employees. Most of what’s known is derived from their product,
an experience known as the “Squid Game.”
The Squid Game came as a surprise to its players. Citizens from all walks of life were united by only two things: insurmountable financial debt and hunger for fortune. Being selected as a participant on the game is a surprise that seems like a stupendous
stroke of luck. Participants compete in a series of simple playground games for high stakes. Winners split $38 million amongst themselves. The losers are “eliminated” from the competition.
The Challenges
Part I:
Squid Game staff uniforms are designed to provide absolute anonymity. Employees wear identical magenta jumpsuits and opaque helmets, differentiated only by the shapes on their uniform that indicate rank: a circle, square, or triangle. Anonymity is important,
but so is security. Staffers must be able to verify the identity of other staffers at checkpoints. They also need to maintain anonymity as they do so. This calls for a method of secure, anonymous identity verification.
Part II:
The Squid Game begins with a pool of over 400 participants. Staff members are responsible for logging the “losers” of any given game into the system. The games can be quite grisly, however. In the first round, over 200 players lost and staff
had to record their elimination from the game. This process is time-consuming, difficult, and has a high potential for error.
The Socket Mobile Solution
After researching data capture and delivery tools, Squid Game management determined that implementing a Socket Mobile barcode scanner could be a game-changer for their operation. They selected the SocketScan S700 for its easy integration,
intuitive design, and efficient scanning. All team leads were equipped with a SocketScan S700, and the device was quickly integrated into their system’s verification and elimination functions.
The Results:
After one particularly gory game, staff members had to perform pat-downs and check the pulses of the participants. Once a participant is confirmed as “eliminated,” staffers use their SocketScan S700 to verify the eliminated player’s
identity by scanning the tracking code behind their ear. The data is fed into the database, triggering a placid voice announcement over the P.A. system: “Player #x, eliminated.”
When another staffer, wearing the same, anonymous attire arrived to help dispose of the participant, their identity had to be verified using the SocketScan S700 to scan the new arrival’s face mask. In one instance, the use of Socket Mobile’s
S700 helped discover something fishy about the new arrival and allowed them to take appropriate action.
Overall, staff has reported a high level of satisfaction with the SocketScan S700. Enabling simple, secure and rapid identity verification has made counting eliminated participants faster and more accurate. “We couldn’t have done it without
the S700,” reported one high-level staff member.
Check out our real Squid Games case study.
(Image screen captures taken from the Netflix show Squid Games.)