--- description: Find out why SandboxAQ AQNav is one of the best inventions of 2024 title: SandboxAQ AQNav: the 200 Best Inventions of 2024 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt91c6af5a590faea7/698a8a0fd075336718e75dc5/SBAQ-AQNav-best-inventions.jpeg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Oct 30, 2024 # Unspoofable Navigation by [Chris Stokel-Walker](/author/chris-stokel-walker/) ## Chris Stokel-Walker Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close  It’s been nearly 25 years [since the U.S. government](https://clintonwhitehouse4.archives.gov/WH/EOP/OSTP/html/0053%5F2.html "undefined") stopped purposefully degrading GPS signals, allowing citizens to pinpoint locations more accurately. But now GPS spoofing—deliberate disruption of a satellite signal with false location data—is wreaking havoc with civilian and military navigation. Ex-Googler Luca Ferrara’s passion project can help. AQNav, a project from SandboxAQ, uses quantum magnetometers that track waves from the Earth’s crust, cross-checking them against known maps, thus using AI to pinpoint location reliably without GPS. The only way to spoof the tool, used by commercial customers, would be to create planet-sized rock formations to throw off the natural wave signals. “It’s a use case for quantum AI that I think can actually be easily understood and directly benefit people with a real need,” says Ferrara, who leads the AQNav team. _Disclosure: Investors in SandboxAQ include TIME co-chair and owner Marc Benioff._ These are independent reviews of the products mentioned, but TIME receives a commission when purchases are made through affiliate links at no additional cost to the purchaser. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/best-inventions-2024/7094639/sandboxaq-aqnav/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/best-inventions-2024/7094639/sandboxaq-aqnav/"},"headline":"SandboxAQ AQNav: the 200 Best Inventions of 2024","datePublished":"2024-10-30T11:58:47.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T11:54:28.008Z","description":"Find out why SandboxAQ AQNav is one of the best inventions of 2024","url":"https://time.com/collections/best-inventions-2024/7094639/sandboxaq-aqnav/","keywords":["Tech","E-Commerce","list","franchise","Magazine","best inventions"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt91c6af5a590faea7/698a8a0fd075336718e75dc5/SBAQ-AQNav-best-inventions.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Chris Stokel-Walker","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/chris-stokel-walker/"}],"creator":"Chris Stokel-Walker","articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt91c6af5a590faea7/698a8a0fd075336718e75dc5/SBAQ-AQNav-best-inventions.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-tech/","name":"Tech"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/best-inventions-2024/7094639/sandboxaq-aqnav/","name":"SandboxAQ AQNav: the 200 Best Inventions of 2024"}}]}] ```