According to Teruyuki Kato, the project's leader, this arrangement can measure a buoy's vertical motion with an accuracy of a few centimetres, which will pick up dangerous tsunamis in the open ocean where they are mere ripples on the surface (they rear up into killer waves only when they reach the shallows).

ECONOMIST: New ways of tracking these killer waves may help save lives

The glider is more mobile than a buoy and can stay out longer than a ship (in any weather) for a fraction of the cost.

FORBES: Liquid Robotics to Usher Era of Smart Oceans With Autonomous Robots