Coming, Ready or Not: Cell Phones as

SensorsRyan Condotta

Major: Modeling and Simulation

Main Concept

• Use of cell phones as sensors

• Why?

• To keep tabs on everything from Traffic to Crime, etc..

• Good or Bad Idea?

The “Vigilante Taxi Driver” Program

• Cab drivers use GPS-enabled cell phones to send messages and photographs

• Everything from accidents and potholes to burst water mains, downed streetlights and criminal activity—effectively acting as additional eyes and ears of government to combat high crime rates and run-down infrastructure

• The reports go to a control center for routing to the appropriate government agency.

Success?

• YES!!

• Generated close to 10,000 reports a month from 3,500 drivers

• Helps recover stolen vehicles, identify counterfeiters, dismantle kidnapping and car-theft gangs and has even saved lives.

• Expanded to two more cities

• Won recognition by the Intelligent Community Forum, a New York-based smart-city think tank

Other Implementations?

• Pollution

• Cell phones contain a carbon-monoxide sensor capable of sniffing out the lethal gas

• Collect environmental data on air pollution or radiation

• Can also be used to estimate air quality throughout the area where the devices are deployed

Other Implementation Cont..• Spread of Ebola

• Sensor would:

• monitors location patterns (e.g. where people are and where they go)

• habits (e.g. walking, sleeping)

• resource needs (e.g. hand sanitizers or gloves) to help people find care, improve the monitoring of disease, and increase awareness of disease prevention.

Current State of Cell Phones as Sensors

• Cell Phone as Sensor is still in Idea Phase

• Why?

• Size- small enough that they can fit inside increasingly sleek phones without adding bulk

• Cost- cheap enough that they don't send phone costs soaring

• Energy Use- energy efficient enough that they don't drain a phone's power

• Privacy Issues

Summary• Cell Phones with sensors capabilities has many practical

applications in the real world

• Problems are still arising from the use of cell phones with sensors

• Until problems of cost, size, energy, and privacy are solved, individuals will still have issues with the new developing technology