INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Whether you&re trying to figure out how many students are attending your lectures or how many evil aliens have taken your Space Force
brethren hostage, Wi-Fi can now be used to count them all.
The system, created by researchers at UC Santa Barbara, uses a single Wi-Fi
router outside of the room to measure attenuation and signal drops
From the release:
The transmitter sends a wireless signal whose received signal strength (RSSI) is measured by the receiver
Using only such received signal power measurements, the receiver estimates how many people are inside the room — an estimate that closely
matches the actual number
It is noteworthy that the researchers do not do any prior measurements or calibration in the area of interest; their approach has only a
very short calibration phase that need not be done in the same area.
This means that you could simply walk up to a wall and press a button
to count, with a high degree of accuracy, how many people are walking around
The system can measure up to 20 people in its current form.
The system uses a mathematical model to &see& people in the room based on signal
The system uses off-the-shelf components and they&ve tested it in multiple locations and found that their total accuracy is two people or
less with only one Wi-Fi device nearby.
Bodies and objects essentially absorb Wi-Fi as they move around in rooms, allowing the system to
find discrete things in the space
Sadly it can''t yet map their position in the room, a feature that could be even more helpful in the future.
