MIT iFind; Intel Place Lab

A team of folks over at MIT are running an interesting wireless location based social networking project called iFIND out of the MIT Senseable City Labs. The project allows anyone with a valid email address from MIT to download the iFIND application and use it to share their location with other iFIND users anywhere on campus. The application which works in conjunction with the Intel Place Lab software works by sniffing out the beacons transmitted by a variety of wireless access devices throughout the campus including over 2,800 wi fi hotspots as well as fixed Bluetooth and local GSM cell towers. The beacons carry with them an identifier associated with each device, the location of which has been mapped out by the iFIND team. The application determines the devices position to within a few meters by triangulates off of whichever beacons are present.

The system is also unique in that, for added security, it doesn’t store user’s location information centrally, but instead distributes via a peer to peer system that stores information on an individuals device.