The City of Bath is set to conduct a series of experiments to test new city wide services based on wireless technology. A research project will be conducted by the University of Bath which will enable the city to provide a range of technologies in the area of wireless applications.
Costing $1.6 million over the next three years, the Cityware project will make use of wireless networks, Bluetooth and Near Field Communication at different locations across the city. The city has been chosen because of the large numbers of visitors who arrive each year. In addition, because of the historic nature of the town, developers will have to learn how to install equipment without breaking any of the strict planning regulations.
One application in the pipeline is a project which will enable visitors to the city to send their digital photographs to a central computer that will compare their picture with a database of images to recognise where they are. The experiment is due to last three years.