A group of researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have been able to create a prototype of the wireless technology that may be able to bring safer drones, smarter homes that can be connected to smart appliances, and more importantly for some, password-less WiFi. The Wi-Fi localization system is called Chronos will enable a single Wi-Fi access point that will be able to locate people within tens of centimeters and all without the use of external sensors.
The researchers are from the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory of MIT and they have created the tech that would enable just a single access point to determine the location of an individual. Right now, the localization methods use a triangulation method which requires multiple Wi-Fi access points. But with Chronos, it calculates both access and distance from the user and from just one access point. They also say that it is 20 times more accurate compared to the current localization methods.
Some practical applications of this tech would be to give Wi-Fi access to people in a certain area, without giving them a password. But it can’t be accessed if they are not within the specified location. It can also be used to make drones safer by programming it to keep a safe distance away from certain areas that have a lot of people. They also tested it in a house where it correctly identified 94% of the time where people were located in the two-bedroom apartment.
While of course this is still in the experimental and research phase, it would be interesting to see what can be done with Chronos if the tech is indeed adapted for consumer and commercial use.
SOURCE: MIT
