TechLink – Navigate by the stars? The US Air Force has a smartphone accessory for that

Who needs GPS when you can navigate using the stars and your smartphone?

On Tuesday, the Air Force Research Laboratory was assigned U.S. Patent 10,323,939. Invented by Eric Vinande, an electronics engineer at the lab’s Sensors Directorate, the smartphone sextant is officially titled “Navigation Apparatus,” and unlike traditional sextants, doesn’t need to be pointed at the horizon.

With the smartphone sextant patent issued, entrepreneurs or businesses can license it, giving them the right to make, use, or sell the technology commercially.