Re: hitech

[flemmerl@rcbhsc.wvu.edu (Flemmer, Linda)]

Truman Prevatt wrote:

>Becky Huffman wrote:

> >is there a device that like a 'reverse pager' that could transmit a GPS
> >location to someone if an alarm was triggered.
>
>
> Not for commerical use that I am aware but such things do exist - for the
> military.

There is a work in progress at NIOSH (Nat'l Institute for Occupational Saftey
& Health), Morgantown, WV that is looking a building such a declassified item
to locate injured workers on large job sites using a combination of
accelerometers and differential GPS.  Their goal is to identify the person's
location with in 10 feet.  My husband is part of the design team - it is in
the developmental stages with bulky prototypes.  They plan to try to get it
down to the size of a double thick cigarette package.

This may be a real possibility for the general public in a couple of years.
As he works on it, Mike (who is an ex-Dpt of Defense Civil servant) says that
there is so much technology that he knows from similar projects in the
military that he can't use - it's classified or higher.  Too bad they can't
share.

Linda Flemmer