Researchers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have created a 3D motion-tracking system, dubbed the WiTrack which, as the name suggests, can track your every move.
You need not be visible to the system and could be hidden behind a wall, which may act as an obstruction, and yet you will be tracked. Moreover, the system is even capable of relaying information if you have "fallen and can't get up." What makes the motion-tracking even more intriguing is that there is no camera watching your move and no wearable technology is at the heart of the technology either.
So how does the WiTrack work, you wonder? The setup simply relies on a wireless network and the ability of your body to bounce back the radio waves.
The WiTrack has been developed by Dina Katabi's research team from the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab (CSAIL). The technology enables 3D motion-tracking which is "highly accurate." The radio signals can track individuals through obstructions and walls and can even pinpoint the 3D location within 10 to 20 centimeters.
The possibilities of the use of the technology are immense, especially in the field of gaming.
"Today, if you are playing a game with the Xbox Kinect or Nintendo Wii, you have to stand right in front of your gaming console, which limits the types of games you can play," says Katabi, a professor of computer science and engineering and co-director of the MIT Center for Wireless Networks and Mobile Computing. "Imagine playing an interactive video game that transforms your entire home into a virtual world. The game console tracks you as you run down real hallways away from video game enemies, or as you hide from other players behind couches and walls. This is what WiTrack can bring to video gaming."
The WiTrack was developed based on Katabi's earlier work WiVi, which was a system capable of detecting humans through walls. WiVi could also track the direction of a person using Wi-Fi signals. The WiTrack was developed by Katabi in collaboratin with Rob Miller, a professor of computer science and engineering, and students Fadel Abib and Zach Kabelac.
The WiTrack is capable of even tracking 2D and 3D movement using specialized radio waves, instead of Wi-Fi signals. The system deploys multiple antennas for motion-tracking where one is for transmitting signals and three are for receiving. The WiTrack then generates a geometric model of the user's location and transmits signals between antennas and the user.
"Because of the limited bandwidth, you cannot get very high location accuracy using WiFi signals," says Adib. "WiTrack transmits a very low-power radio signal, 100 times smaller than WiFi and 1,000 times smaller than what your cell phone can transmit. But the signal is structured in a particular way to measure the time from when the signal was transmitted until the reflections come back. WiTrack has a geometric model that maps reflection delays to the exact location of the person. The model can also eliminate reflections off walls and furniture to allow us to focus on tracking human motion."
Currently, the team is working on improving the WiTrack system so it can track multiple people in motion at one go.
In April 2014, during the Usenix Symposium on Networked Systems Design and Implementation, the researchers are expected to present their findings.
