Ubisense, the leading provider of precise, real-time
location technology, announced today that more than 60 research
institutions worldwide have deployed its real-time location system
(RTLS) to conduct ground-breaking research that requires high accuracy
location data.
Ubisense delivers the most precise tracking platform available for
enterprise-wide deployment. Its sensor-driven ultra-wideband (UWB)
technology reports asset and person location within 30 cm of accuracy
and in 3D. Customers such as Columbia University and Graz University
of Technology are utilizing Ubisense's technology to gain real-time
visibility into asset location and human movement to improve workflow
processes as well as develop innovative location-aware applications.
Columbia University in New York began its work with the Ubisense
platform in 2005. The university is working in conjunction with DoCoMo
Eurolabs and the National Science Foundation through a Computer and
Information Science and Engineering (CISE) research grant to study
Session Initiation Protocol(SIP)-enabled applications and services.
SIP is a signaling protocol used to establish sessions in an IP
network. Columbia University is combining SIP with the precise
location data collected by the Ubisense platform to discover new
location-aware applications, such as the ability to automatically
tailor communication behavior. For example, communication services
could be customized based on specific individuals identified to be
present in a room, or a camera may be programmed to follow a speaker
by accurately tracking his location and positioning itself
accordingly.
"We are impressed with the Ubisense RTLS platform. When we
initially determined we needed precise tracking information for our
research, we conducted a fairly extensive search and found Ubisense
was the only high accuracy indoor location system that suited our
needs," said Henning Schulzrinne, professor and chair, Department of
Computer Science, Columbia University. "This technology has
significantly enhanced the depth of our research and the types of new
applications we have been able to realize."
Columbia University plans to offer demonstrations of the new
services discovered as a result of this research and will publish its
findings in a technical report in early 2007.
The Ubisense platform has also been deployed at the Institute for
Computer Graphics and Vision at Graz University of Technology in
Austria for more than a year. Graz University of Technology is
focusing its research on Augmented Reality (AR) in which
computer-generated graphics, sounds and smells can be added to the
real-world environment. The Institute of Computer Graphics and Vision
is participating in several European Union sponsored research programs
on AR, primarily in the fields of medicine and architecture.
Specifically, Graz University is interested in tracking mobile users
and augmenting the user's indoor views with virtual information.
Researchers attach Ubisense sensors to mobile users and can determine
the near-exact position of the user. Researchers are then able to
display virtual information correctly according to the user's indoor,
real-time location.
"In Augmented Reality we superimpose virtual objects over the real
environment so knowing the user's exact position and orientation is
the key to insert the appropriate overlay information. The Ubisense
platform gives us this ability," said DI Gerhard Schall, research
engineer, Graz University of Technology. "Using Ubisense we can track
several people at the same time and obtain precise location
information in a 3D format. This information is extremely valuable in
advancing our research that we believe will one day greatly contribute
to the mainstream existence of Augmented Reality."
Graz University of Technology publishes its latest experimental
results and research papers on a regular basis at
http://www.icg.tu-graz.ac.at/research.
"We are extremely proud to be affiliated with respected
institutions such as Columbia University and Graz University of
Technology," said Richard Green, CEO Ubisense. "We truly believe the
innovative applications being discovered using our precise RTLS
platform will have a profound and lasting impact across many different
industries."
About Ubisense
Ubisense delivers a precise, real-time location system (RTLS)
utilizing ultra-wideband (UWB) technology that locates people and
assets within 30 cm in 3D. Customers spanning logistics and
manufacturing, workplace, military, healthcare and hazardous
environments rely on the innovative Ubisense system to analyze and
dramatically improve complex processes resulting in significant
operational savings. The company is headquartered in Cambridge,
England with offices in Denver, Colorado; Dortmund, Germany; and
Singapore. For more information, visit http://www.ubisense.net.
