New technology from Cambridge Consultants can accurately detect someone’s location indoors when GPS drops out. Sensors and a custom algorithm determine the location, with an accuracy of within approximately 1% of the distance traveled. The device concept is small enough to clip on a belt and doesn’t need any existing internal infrastructure.
Indoor tracking systems are not new. But they often rely on RF signals from wi-fi access points or custom infrastructure.
Now low-cost smartphone components – including accelerometers, gyroscopes, magnetometers and pressure sensors – have enabled a new generation of location devices and applications.
Cambridge Consultants says their technology can be embedded in an existing design or operate as a stand-alone unit. It can also transmit the information to a remote system to process the data before visualizing it on a smartphone app.
“Our biggest challenges were developing an algorithm which optimally combines the data from GPS and the other sensors, and overcoming the issues of using such low-cost sensors in a system without any absolute location reference,” said Smithson.
Cambridge Consultants develops breakthrough products, creates and licenses intellectual property, and provides business consultancy in technology critical issues for clients worldwide.
The Pole Star indoor location solution combines Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth low energy (BLE), MEMS (motion sensors) and map data.
Pole Star says their solution enables customers and partners to deploy their NAO Cloud in just a few hours. The NAO Cloud platform targets venue owners, advertising platform providers, application developers, global solution integrators or networks operators. It was announced at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
The In-Location Alliance launched last year by Nokia and more than 20 other companies, hopes to adopt high accuracy indoor positioning and services, reports Reuters and promote widespread adoption of standard based technologies.
The In-Location Alliance solutions are based on enhanced Bluetooth 4.0 low-energy technology and Wi-Fi. An electronic leash, sensitive to a set distance, can lower battery consumption using Bluetooth 4.0 low energy protocols. A Bluetooth enabled watch can provide an automatic two-factor authentication.
Qualcomm recently announced that it is collaborating with Cisco to accelerate indoor location services for public and private venues. Smartphones based on the Qualcomm Snapdragon processor can detect when it is near a Wi-Fi network powered by a Mobile Services Engine and pop-up relevant information.
The Qualcomm IZat platform supports WiFi positioning with cloud-based servers and a global database of WLAN access point locations. Qualcomm’s Snapdragon S4 chipset, will include Cisco firmware that will enable the chipset to talk to wireless LANs equipped with Cisco’s new Mobility Services Engine software.
The combination of the Qualcomm IZat indoor location services platform and the Cisco “Connected Mobile Experience” solution improves indoor location accuracy and enables service discovery and context awareness, say the companies.
Meridian by comparison, works on both iOS & Android devices – and doesn’t require Hotspot 2.0 technologies or a Qualcomm processor. Meridian provides turn-by-turn directions and information in several large venues, including the Venetian hotel in Las Vegas, the Metropolitan Transit Authority in New York City, the American Museum of Natural History, the Portland International Airport and Powell’s City of Books.
Android users have had access to Google’s Field Trip for several months now, but the location-discovery app is now available for iOS, says Engadget. The service runs in the background on your smartphone, alerting you when you’re near a historic spot or Zagat-recommended restaurant. But it only works outdoors.
Spindle, another local Discovery App from former Microsoft engineers, features keyword-based search, configurable and personalized search alerts, has expanded its coverage to include Austin, Chicago and Seattle.
ABI Research says the indoor location market is set to reach a significant number of installations in 2015-2017.
Related Dailywireless articles include; Qualcomm & Cisco Team for WiFi Location, Indoor Location Alliance Formed, Cisco Small Cells, AT&T: 40,000 Small Cells, Microsoft Sponsors Free WiFi in NYC & SF, Chicago Announces Free WiFi in Parks, Hotspot 2.0, Cellular/WiFi Roaming Gets Real, Street light Provides Wi-Fi, Cell Coverage, Hotspot 2.0,
