Big Brother Now Watching You Indoors

MARCH 24,, 2004
NEC has developed a system that works more or less like an indoor GPS system. Called SmartLocator, the system uses a company's existing wireless LAN and what NEC calls "lighting tags" -- essentially transmitters installed in office lighting -- instead of satellites to track the location of people and objects inside an office building.

People or objects are "tagged" with ID chips, and the location of those chips is gauged by how far away they are from each transmitter.

The transmitters are placed inside lighting because lights are already wired for electricity and tend to be high up, which improves their accuracy.

The system reports the location of tags via the wireless LAN.