Windows Phone is a powerful OS, we have seen this time and time again. In today’s edition of why Windows Phone and Imagine Cup are awesome, let’s take a look at SAPER. What does SAPER do, you ask? Oh, it can detect landmines by measuring the magnetic field around the explosive device which can save lives, no big deal.

This phenomenal application was developed by a team from the Military University of Technology in Warsaw; SAPER is a Polish term for minesweeper and is also an acronym for Sensor Amplified Perception for Explosives Recognition via gizmag.

The application works by using the magnetometer that is typically used to provide your phone with compass-like functionality but in this case, has been modified to detect the magnetic field around explosives. It does this by establishing a baseline of the environment that you are in, then you paint a 30cm grid pattern over the area you wish to inspect and the device then connects to the cloud to see if the disturbances measured by the sensor match up to documented explosive devices.

This simple application will not replace dedicated mine detection devices but at the same time, getting your hands on a Windows Phone device is far easier than a mine detection tool. Given that landmines are still a major issue in many parts of the World, this simple tool can help locate explosives and save lives.

This application was developed for the Imagine Cup competition and the World finals will be held in July. Neowin will be at the finals to bring more of these applications to light to show the true power of the creative mind and Microsoft technologies.