New app uses Wi-Fi for SOS when no mobile network available

If you might have lost or injured in the desert, there’s a likelihood that there won’t be cellular coverage at the place you are – here's a good news for you, now your smartphone would possibly nonetheless get you discovered.

According to Ruvid, a new technology has been developed by researchers of the Universidad de Alicante(UA) that locates people who have sustained an injury in remote locations. Moreover, the new technology can also be used in emergency situations.

When the app is activated, it emits a Wi-Fi signal which can be detected over a distance of several kilometres. The signal contains information such as the user's GPS coordinates along with a text message such as "I am injured" or "I am disoriented," project leader professor Jose Angel Berna said.

The researchers have also created a light (half a kilo), portable receptor device that also owns a small antenna and connects to the smartphone of the search party.

"There is no system in the world that uses Wi-Fi signals to geo-locate a smartphone. There are devices that allow you to detect mobile phone signals from a smartphone in the world and pinpoint its location through triangulation, but it costs around €80,000 (approximately 61,05,003) and requires the use of a helicopter," he said.

According to Berna, the technology has already been tested by the Special Mountain Intervention Rescue Groups of the Guardia Civil and the Maritime Service of the Armed Forces and Maritime Rescue, respectively.