Start-up Naurt improves accuracy for location tracking
- October 27, 2021
- Steve Rogerson
UK geo-location start-up Naurt has announced full public access to software that can unlock precise location tracking. The plug-and-play toolkit promises to deliver 45 times more accurate location data when used indoors or outdoors and across borders.
Following a year of beta testing with a pilot group of high-profile local and international businesses and governments, Naurt has now made its software accessible to any and all businesses around the globe.
Current GNSS technology cannot ensure accuracy in built-up areas where even a reasonably large tree can make pinpointing an exact location impossible. Even in open spaces, industries that rely on knowing where something is in relation to something else are still using outdated technology that is good enough at best.
Naurt’s software does not replace the satellite location services businesses use. Instead, it integrates seamlessly with it and fixes the problems that cause the location data to be inaccurate. Where businesses might be able to pinpoint a location to within around 20 metres, integrating Naurt could improve accuracy to within centimetres.
“Naurt is making geo-location ultra precise,” said Jack Maddalena, co-founder and CEO of Naurt. “Standard satellite location services are no longer fit for purpose and are costing businesses and people time, money and safety. We have created the world’s first platform that is able to improve on this without the need for extra hardware. The work we are doing will be transformational for people and businesses around the world.”
In a recent pilot for a large micro-mobility company, Naurt corrected location fixes by an average of 14.6 metres with a maximum correction of as much as 78 metres. Enabling its fleet with Naurt software made it possible for the company to expand into extremely built-up cities that would have previously been out of the question. There will soon be a scooter on every street corner as the micro-mobility trend builds momentum globally. However, many cities will refuse to invite these companies onto their streets if they cannot guarantee the level of safety Naurt enablement can ensure.
In practical terms, Naurt has improved accuracy at one of the largest food delivery companies by 40%.Despite recent growth in the last-kilometre delivery market, major players still rely on location data that is a long way away from accurate. Innovation has halted in similar areas such as micro-mobility, autonomous construction, drone delivery and smart city design as a result of inadequate tracking capabilities.
Naurt is making waves in the micro-mobility sector, helping companies win bids through passing safety legislation and enabling them to expand into previously untouchable places. A Naurt-enabled fleet can enforce parking zones (no more scooter litter), throttle speeds in no-go zones and offer smart lane detection. Naurt has helped micro-mobility companies improve their location fixes by an average of 40% during beta testing, eliminating what is known as GNSS drift, so users and charge teams can track scooters down to the lamp post they are leaning against.
“Put simply, your on-demand food delivery service cannot accurately estimate when your pizza will arrive or guarantee that it will be hot when it does,” said Maddalena. “The restaurant cannot tell how far away your driver is or whether to wait before firing up the oven. That means your driver will wait longer when they arrive at the restaurant and fit in less deliveries that evening as a result. Once your pizza is en route, you can only track its progress through vague updates like “on its way”, “around the corner” or “nearby” leaving you hanging out the window or loitering by the door waiting for them to get your location wrong – just like last time. But all that is about to change.”
Naurt’s mission is to unlock innovation by providing an essential enabler without which rapid progress in sectors that rely on GNSS would simply not be possible. The start-up aims to remove a barrier to breakthroughs in emerging technologies and industries such as self-driving cars, automated construction, drone deliveries, last-kilometre logistics, micro-mobility and more.
“Naurt’s innovation enables a diverse sphere of enterprises to unlock opportunities and break into new markets,” said Maddalena. “We have seen the impact of our work with our customers who, through intelligent location data, are identifying revenues in ways once thought impossible. Here at Naurt, we can imagine a future where there is a new technological revolution based on location hyper-precision and we believe strongly that Naurt is the company to make this happen.”
Naurt was founded in April 2020 in Brighton, England, by Jack Maddalena and Nicolas Slack. Maddalena is an entrepreneur and commercial specialist as well as the former sales director and cofounder of VRCraftworks, a company known for making one of the ten top VR apps to download according to The Guardian and others publications. Slack, Naurt’s CTO, is a published researcher and programmer whose vision catalysed modern acoustic-levitation, and pivoted his attention to geo-location.