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In the Harry Potter books, the magical Marauder's Map reveals the whereabouts of characters as they roam the halls and classrooms of Hogwarts school.

And now a team of engineers has created technology that has the potential to work in the same way, but for any building around the globe.

Called SiRFusion, the software combines Wi-Fi signals, GPS, and phone sensors to map indoor locations such as shopping malls, help people find items in supermarkets and even track people in a crowd.

The SiRFusion software, from Cambridge Silicon Radio (CSR), helps app developers map indoor locations.  It combines real-time Wi-Fi signals, GPS and sensors in phones to calculate accurate points, which could help people navigate shopping centres, find items in supermarkets and locate people in crowds

It was created by Cambridge Silicon Radio (CSR), and can be added to any Android app.

GPS systems typically rely on having a good line-of-sight to the sky and the satellites that provide it with its positioning information.

And while these systems do work, to an extent, indoors, the accuracy and reliability is poor because walls and roofs block this view.

Once a developer adds the software to their app, CSR begins by checking GPS and then combines this with real-time Wi-Fi signals.

These signals reveal the location of routers, for example, around a building, as well as the distances that devices are away from these signal hubs.

It then uses what's known as pedestrian dead reckoning.

This involves using motion sensors and compasses built into devices to determine not only the person's location, but also plot their movements based on the speed they are walking for example, and the angle they are travelling in.

This information is ultimately uploaded to CSR's cloud-based Positioning Centre to calculate an accurate indoor location.

CSR claims the technology is accurate to around 16ft (five metres) for a busy location, such as a shopping centre, but this accuracy can be improved depending on the number of Wi-Fi signals, for example.

'It's a useful technology for public venues, hotels and shopping malls, enabling people to quickly find their way to the destination,' said Dave Huntingford, director of product line for location.

 'An example use case is an airport; using this technology in an airline application would allow the airline to offer guidance through the airport, indicate how long it will take to walk to the gate from their current location, notify gate changes with maps and what documentation they need in hand as people walk towards security.

The Marauder's Map (pictured) is a fictional map of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as featured in the Harry Potter franchise. It tracks the location of every person in the grounds, shown as footprints labelled with the person's name (pictured)

CSR told MailOnline the uses of the software are determined by the app, meaning it has the potential to track individual people - but only where the developers and users allow. For example, the technology could be used by a dating app to track nearby singles, or a parent could use it to track their child in a crowd

'It would [also] allow the airline to understand where their passengers spend time at the airport or get lost.'

CSR told MailOnline that the uses of the software are determined by the app, meaning it has the potential to track individual people - but only where the developers and users allow.

For example, the technology could be used by a dating app to track nearby singles, or a parent could use it to track their child in a crowd.

It could additionally be used to target people with specific adverts or promotions.

The users need to grant permission for any app running the software to be able to do this, and none of the user's information is shared with CSR.