In worst-case scenarios, this real time urban mapping could also make it easier to evacuate cities — assuming that cell phones are working.
Using algorithms developed by Telecom Italia, the main sponsor of the project, the technology can distinguish whether a mobile phone signal comes from a user who is, say, stuck in traffic or perhaps taking a slow walk in a park.
Foreign mobile phone numbers, meanwhile, reveal the movements of tourists who are carrying phones from other countries.
The concept may remind some of Big Brother, but the researchers assure all data are kept anonymous to preserve individual privacy. The information is aggregated from communications and GPS networks and stripped of any personal identifiers.
During the Rome's Notte Bianca experiment, the ever changing map ran smoothly — even as 2.5 million people roamed across the city,
"I was really impressed when I realized that there were hundreds of thousand of people in line to visit the city's museums," Rome's mayor Walter Veltroni said.
Related Links:
MIT's SENSEable City Laboratory
La Notte Bianca
