Ubisense's sensors place people and things to within six inches in three dimensions: The sensors rely on the unique property of ultrawideband (UWB) to offer extremely precise placement information. Of course this begs the question of how many people or assets need to be located or tracked within inches--or feet? Here's an answer for one of their vertical industries: real-time measurement and audit of workplace metrics, providing the evidence managers need to make practical decisions.
"Bob, you spent too much time at your desk working on the TPD form, and then I see over the last month you were in the bathroom for 2 1/2 hours a day. I'm going to need to ask to request permission in writing for future facility breaks, m'kay?"
In researching a story on 802.15.3b (the UWB flavor of personal area networking) last year, several companies mentioned that combining UWB transmitters into Wi-Fi devices could help in planning, monitoring, and adjusting networks. You might be able to track someone across a Wi-Fi network using UWB to precisely locate the access points and Wi-Fi to triangulate within that space. [link via Wireless Weblog]