Radio frequency identification, or RFID, tags are already changing the way companies keep track of inventory, how owners keep track of pets and how turnpikes collect tolls. But what lies in the future?

"RFID: Hype, Reality and Hope," a daylong conference tomorrow at the University of Pittsburgh, will assess this developing technology. Marlin Mickle, an RFID researcher and Pitt electrical engineering professor, will be the featured speaker of the program, which is sponsored by Pitt's Swanson Institute for Technical Excellence.

The conference is from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. tomorrow on the 5th floor of Pitt's Alumni Hall, 4227 Fifth Ave., Oakland. To register or view an agenda, visit www.engr.pitt.edu/SITE/rfid.