Google has partnered with the London Zoo to not just give you a live stream of meerkats, giant Galapagos tortoises, and Asian otters on YouTube but to test out Wi-Fi technology. Their aim is to test the use of white space (or the small gaps in radio spectrum that exist between television transmissions) for tracking endagered animals in the wild and protect them from poachers.
The London Zoo won a Google Global Impact Award grant last year worth US$800,000 to build a network of sensors and cameras to be placed in popular poaching areas in Kenya. Using white space, they hope it will be able to send data quicker and farther than what can be done with satellites. The technology can also be used to provide Internet access to rural areas, develop next-generation Wi-Fi technologies, and stream video wirelessly.
Source: Ofcom | Via: Fast Company