iOS App Acoustically Measures Distances Up To 25 Meters 154
n01 writes "A recently published app for the iOS platform uses the propagation of sound waves to measure distances of up to 25 meters in a dual device mode. The technique works through repeatedly sending a chirp signal from the master device to which the other (reflector) device synchronizes itself and then replies in a similar fashion. A novel combination of techniques has been engineered to enhance the robustness in noisy environments, such as using an optimum-autocorrelation-signal and semi-automatic frequency calibration together with an averaging over multiple cycles."
Star Trek? (Score:5, Funny)
Weapons Officer: "Captain I can't get a fix on the enemies position."
Science Officer: "We could try using an optimum-autocorrelation-signal and semi-automatic frequency calibration together with an averaging over multiple cycles."
Captain: "Good idea."
Me at home: "Who makes up this stuff."
This is news because it's on iOS, right? (Score:5, Funny)
Because such an app already existed for PocketPC (That'd be Windows Mobile):
http://nerdipedia.com/tiki-index.php?page=Sonar+CE [nerdipedia.com]
Oh, and desktop PC:
http://nerdipedia.com/tiki-index.php?page=Sonar&structure=index [nerdipedia.com]
I hear there's a flashlight app for iDevices, too - Slashdot should really look into that. It's magical.
Re:Not impressive (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Not impressive (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Not impressive (Score:1, Funny)
No, those are blowholes.
Re:Nifty (Score:4, Funny)
I strongly prefer empirical methods in this case.