Nokia, the Finnish cell-phone company, is collaborating with
the
University of
California,
Berkeley,
in order to test if traffic can be predicted and monitored through cell phones.
The test lasted all day Friday and 100
Berkeley
students were involved, Cnet News reports.
Each student’s car was endowed with a Nokia N95 phone with
GPS, as well as traffic-monitoring software, also created by Nokia. While the
students were driving, the company’s research facility received information
concerning the cars’ speed and positions. The data was also displayed on the
Internet, informing viewers and helping them reach their destinations very
quickly.
These results are great news for ordinary people, who drive
to work every day, as well as for state transportation agencies, that invest a
lot of money for equipment that provides traffic information. Moreover, people
who want to travel could easier plan their trips.
Of course, the first problem raised is that of privacy. Alex
Bayen, a professor of civil and environmental engineering and lead researcher
on the project for Berkeley,
says people need not worry. Apparently, the information sent to Nokia does not
contain private data, and the encryption methods are similar to the ones used
by banks to keep the information private. Also, people can decide if they want
to be monitored or not, as they can turn off the service if they do not wish
their data to be sent to Nokia.
On the whole, the experiment appeared to be successful, and Nokia
stated for Cnet News that they hope to develop the test even more, using 1000
people instead of 100. Also, the people involved will be asked to use the
service not only for one day, but in their every day routines.
