Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin have developed a new "centimeter-accurate" positioning and orientation system using sensors cheap and small enough to fit into a smartphone. The group is funded by Samsung and is working with the company to develop a "snap-on" smartphone accessory that will bring the feature to consumers.
The system relies on GPS, which is only accurate to a few meters on its own. To get to centimeter-accuracy, the project combines the GPS information with low-cost antennas typically found in mobile devices. Combining GPS with other sensors isn't a new idea, but the sytem has always been too big and too expensive (a few hundred dollars) to fit into a smartphone. Besides nailing your location, the system can also determine orientation to "less than one degree" of accuracy.
With this newfound location and orientation information, the researchers imagine "outdoor virtual reality" becoming a thing. Todd Humphreys, the lead researcher of the group, said, "Imagine games where, rather than sit in front of a monitor and play, you are in your backyard actually running around with other players. To be able to do this type of outdoor, multiplayer virtual reality game, you need highly accurate position and orientation that is tied to a global reference frame."
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