A wireless identification and sensing platform (WISP) is an RFID (radio-frequency identification) device that supports sensing and computing: a microcontroller powered by radio-frequency energy.
[1] That is, like a passive RFID tag, WISP is powered and read by a standard off-the-shelf RFID reader, harvesting the power it uses from the reader's emitted radio signals.
The WISP was originally developed by Intel Research Seattle, but after their closure development work has continued at the Sensor Systems Laboratory at the University of Washington in Seattle.
The WISP consists of a board with power harvesting circuitry, demodulator, modulator, microcontroller, external sensors, and other components such as EEPROM and LED.
WISPs have been used for light level measurement, acceleration sensing, cold chain monitoring (passive data logging), and cryptography and security applications.