ICTworks

In an effort to extend WiFi signals into more rural regions, Inveneo has been secretly extending research into bat radar. A major breakthrough today allows WiFi signals to be bounced from and amplified by bats, turning them in flying WiFi repeaters and hotspots.

Dr. Andris Bjornson hit upon the idea last year after he took solace in a remote Haitian cave to recover from his failed Goat*Net caprine mesh project. Mark Summer, Inveneo’s Co-Founder, is quite batty over the idea. He says:

“We see great opportunity for BatNet and I’ve set up a special bat breeding program on the roof of our San Francisco office to cross breed bats to extend their flying range. We want to release 900,000 reprogrammed bats in 2012 at a rate of approximately 2,500 per day or roughly .000028 kbps (kilobats per second), creating the world’s largest nocturnal mobile hotspot.”

Inveneo is focusing on the giant golden-crowned flying fox, with wingspan of 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in), to maximize the parabolic directional gain of bat wings. We believe that once the BatNet population reaches critical mass, it can evolve into a self-replicating and self-repairing global mesh network delivering broadband Internet services, with peak performance in rural areas traditionally underserved by other wireless technologies.

It’s unclear if the bats themselves could benefit from the improved connectivity options they will have a their disposal as a result of this project. Inveneo plans to make bat-centric Internet content freely available via BatNet, and to pilot a mobile deployment of the bat-focused “Batbook” social networking site to encourage bats to express their opinions of the project while in flight.

Look for the BatNet spotlight over major metropolitan cities in the next few nights – this will be the signal for a BatNet launch in your community.