8 years ago
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Estimote Creates An Indoor Location System Using Beacons And “Nearables”
The dream of indoor location sensing has always been just that - a dream. The difficulty of Wi-Fi tracking and other technologies has made it hard for anyone – from businesses to regular users – to figure out where they were in a venue. But the folks at Estimote, a Polish beacon company, may have just cracked the code.
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How funny. I was looking for something exactly like this a few years ago. Had a problem with one of my cats bothering another one of the cats, causing lots of yowling, shrieking, and other bullshit in the middle of the night when I was trying to get some sleep.
I envisioned a collar the 'good' cat would wear- just a beacon that sends out data every x seconds. The 'bad' cat would wear a little harness with a sensor. If 'bad' kitty gets within 6 feet of 'good', he get a little beep behind his shoulder blades, warning him. closer, the harness would vibrate repeatedly (think: the vibrator off a cell phone) until 'bad' kitty steps out of range.
Tried piecing together technologies to make something like this, but there was nothing really off the shelf which would fit the bill. Still think it would be an interesting idea to pursue.
I imagine this will be really helpful when it becomes a consumer standard. Lost your keys? Search for the using the app o your phone. Lost a shoe?Search for it. Of course, as with everything there is a downside, and for this it's that the NSA will probably have access to every nearable for your "safety".
Long before that, it will help reduce staffing costs at big retail stores. Lost in the store? Pull out your phone and get directions to any product on the floor or to the exit, checkout, restrooms, etc.