Smart Homes Track You On Power Grid

In the future, your house will know where you are at all times. Yeah we don't like the sound of that either.

Gregory Abowd, a computer scientist at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, is working on a computer program that can track your movements within your home by following the electronic noise made in your power grid by your use of light switches and small appliances. Up until now, concepts for smart homes had to include cameras or micorphones to track your movements, both of which have draw backs. Abowd's program can plug directly into a wall socket and determin which room of the house you're in by finding where particular appliaces are in use, while ignoring power draining items that are generally left on, like ceiling fans.

I for one, welcome our future robot overlords, and promise not to leave the bathroom light on anymore. Check out the full article.