Wi-Fi Signals Will Count People, Replace Roll Call Forever

The wi-fi signal can do much more than Internet delivery and wireless content transfer. Prof. Yasamin Mostofi, from UCSB is aiming to replace roll calls forever with Wi-Fi signals. Mostofi and her team of researchers have found out a way to count the number of people in any given area using wireless signals. The team believes that this technique can lead to wide range of applications including search and rescue operations.

Prof. Mostofi and her team did the measurements of the power of Wi-Fi link in the test area. They could establish the number of people walking in a given area without needing the people to carry any wireless communication device.

The researchers put two Wi-Fi cards on two ends of the area, about 70 sq.m. Wireless link was then established between the two cards. The team then measured the Wi-Fi signal power to figure out how many people were walking in the area. They could successfully measure up to 9 people in both indoor and outdoor settings.



Counting walking people is a challenging task, and doing it with wireless signal is very difficult says Prof. Mostofi. The presence of people in the wi-fi area attenuates the signal. Moreover, human bodies scatter the signal which results into a phenomenon known as multipath fading. The team developed a probability based mathematical model incorporating these to parameters to correctly estimate the number of people in the area.

Wi-Fi signals are ubiquitous. Researchers believe that this would enable multiple applications for this new technique. Bigger shops will be able to calculate how many people are inside the shop and then make automatic adjustments to the air-conditioning. They'd also be able to accurately count the footfall.


Read more about the project on source link below.

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