Computer scientists develop smart, less obtrusive tracking system

Researchers at the University at Buffalo and Amrita University in India have developed the framework for a smart environment that can track people's whereabouts without the use of invasive technologies such as constant filming or radio frequency identification (RFID) tags.

The new tracking method could improve safety and security in nursing homes, hospitals and other closed spaces while providing occupants with freedom from continuous surveillance.

"Our goal is to develop systems that could enhance quality of life at homes and hospitals; productivity at the workplace; and security of critical spaces," said Bharat Jayaraman, a professor of computer science and engineering at UB and a principal investigator of the project. "We want technology to be natural and unobtrusive.

We don't want you to carry around an RFID tag, and we don't want cameras everywhere. We want technology to be assistive, and not become Big Brother."

A peer-reviewed paper, "Three R's of Cyber-Physical Spaces," describing the new tracking method appears online in Computer, the flagship magazine of the IEEE Computer Society and the print edition will carry the article in a future issue.

The research also will be presented next week at the "Indo-US Workshop on Developing a Research Agenda in Pervasive Communications and Computing Collaboration (PC3)," co-sponsored by the National Science Foundation.