With the recent release of the Xoom tablet from Motorola comes the first barometric sensor available in a mobile device. The barometer was added to the Android operating system by Google as a way to support faster GPS access by estimating the elevation of the user when accessing the satellites. But this new sensor opens up a new range of possibilities (just as we saw with accelerometers and light sensors) including predicting local weather patterns. Imagine the possibilities of a weather grid with thousands of users picking up local barometric readings. This would give us the ability to sense "microclimates" at a level that is impossible from weather satellites or regional stations today. Not to mention, the infrastructure does not cost anything since the devices would already exist. Knowing these microclimates, people could better schedule local events, estimate energy output from solar/wind farms, and even know what clothes to wear that day. Just one more example of bringing the power of collective intelligence to the pam of our hands.
Using Digital Swarms to Predict the Weather
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