The result is an extremely sensitive device that's also considerably more reliable than conventional accelerometers. While existing hardware can help determine to location to some extent by measuring velocity, it quickly falls apart without help from space.

As you might have noticed by looking at the photo above, this quantum 'compass' isn't ready to replace the accelerometer in your phone. It's only truly ready for ships, trains and other large vehicles where size and power requirements aren't major factors. It could keep transportation networks humming even if GPS fails outright. The researchers also expect the underlying concepts to help with science studies, such as looking for gravitational waves.