At Wakeforest’s Winston Salem, North Carolina campus, parking and laundry just got a whole lot more organized thanks to IBM. Serving as a test bed for IBM’s new voice recognition software, students can now ask their cell phone’s if there are any free parking spots, or if the laundry machines are open for use. Sensors have been installed on the campus keeping tracking of incoming and outgoing cars, and ultimately tallying the number of empty spots. A similar technology is applied to the on campus laundry machines, and other services including arriving buses.Using an IBM WebSphere application server, the information is then synchronized to the student’s phone. In addition, the application can read out email and notes for the multitasking no-hands-free student. Assuming a success, IBM plans to market the software to health care, emergency response, and other multitasking and heavy work load environments.

Phones That Listen [Red Herring]