UB Students to Study Smartphones Usage | News

AMHERST, NEW YORK - A group of student researchers at the University at Buffalo at Amherst are focused on making smartphones smarter and faster for the average user.

UB is using a $1.3 million grant from the National Science Foundation for a new study.

Over the next three years, students hope to develop some of the most useful advancements in technology that'll be available to all smartphone users.

Students hope a room they've called "PhoneLab" will grow into a hub for breakthroughs in smartphone technology.

Geoff Challen, an assistant professor and researcher in PhoneLab says the study will be done by dedicated and committed students at UB. 

Researchers of the study say Sprint has hooked up 150 students, faculty and staff with free smartphones. Participants in the study are asked to use their phones as they normally do and download apps that will allow scientists to collect data. UB says the experiment is the largest of it's kind.

Researchers will look to create more useful apps and develop technology that will prevent phone batteries from ever running out of power. Students also hope to connect phones to other computers that aren't in the room.

Specifically, students think they can create apps that can clearly monitor air pollution. They also think it's simple to allow Facebook users to physically locate where they're friends are. Researchers think they can turn phones into keys to open doors or activate elevators.

Micheal Benedict, a master's degree student at UB is part of an effort to create a new app called "Civicly." It's free and can give users information about problems on campus in real time.

"This is going to be an experiment, which we will be launching up with PhoneLab for the university itself, so students would be getting this experiment and they will be able to report any facility problems they see and it could be online," said Benedict. 

One day, PhoneLab wants to see cities around the world using Civicly.

"To me this research is incredibly exciting, I hope the people in this room are as excited about it as I am," said Challen.

PhoneLab hopes to triple the number of its participants to 600 users two years from now. By then, there could be dozens of ways this lab will have improved how people use smartphones.

Researchers say that participants will be protected and that efforts will be made to prevent hackers from getting into the network.

In just two months, PhoneLab will release its first findings.