Smartphones nowadays thoroughly warrant their names, and in combination with powerful software can do cool stuff like tell you where parking spots are available in real time. Such a system requires thousands of devices to be interconnected and exchange information, and if it wasn’t already up and running in Israel with allegedly 100,000 users, we would probably have dismissed it as witchcraft.
You can enter the land of free parking in Tel Aviv by downloading an app called Anagog, which is the work of an Israeli company that is currently seeking additional funding to expand out of its home country, and offer the service in Europe and the US. It has also been integrated into the FindMyCar app as an additional feature, being used to guide drivers back to their cars.
It works by tracking the movement of the smartphone holder, multiple ones in fact, and compiling all of the data to decipher where everybody has parked, how long they’ve been there and whether or not they’re on their way back. The information is then shown to users on a map in real time, and it can even go so far as to predict spots freeing up, and launching alerts beforehand – this could lead to a lot of stalking, but could work (if it actually does what it says on the tin) through diligent use.
Finally, let’s not forget the matter of privacy concerns. Clearly tracking people’s movements, predicting where the go, possibly working out specific patterns in time is definitely sensitive information and should be treated as such.
By Andrei Nedelea
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