Over the last decade, the growth of applications using positioning systems and location-based services has exploded. Current satellite navigation systems, such as GPS, GLONASS and the future Galileo ensure a large coverage for outdoor positioning. But what’s up for indoor positioning in malls, large buildings or even in area prone to canyoning effects as urban areas?

Solutions using other systems exist: Wi-Fi positioning, inertial navigation… BUT WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT AN INDOOR NAVIGATION SYSTEM BASED ON THE SAME POSTIONING SYSTEMS AS IN OUTDOORS?

THE MARKET is already ready:

• MEET YOUR FRIENDS INSIDE A LARGE STADIUM: In Europe, many sportive and entertainment events take place in large covered buildings, such as stadiums, pavilions or halls. The development of the indoor positioning technology would enable the creation of applications that facilitate that friends meet each other during the event;
• FIND YOUR CAR IN A LARGE UNDERGROUND PARKING: In cities it is common that parking lots are indoor, either underground or composed of multiple floors that obstruct the reception of satellite signals. Who has never forgotten the place, including the floor, where the car is? An application for smartphones making it possible to save the place of the car could be very useful;
• FIND YOUR WAY TO YOUR FLIGHT GATE IN EVERY AIRPORT: Examples of large buildings are obviously airports. Often it is not obvious how to get quickly to the boarding gate when departing, or to the conveyor belt when arriving;
• FIND A COMPANY IN A LARGE COMPANY POOL: Fairs that usually occur indoor are also interesting events that might make use of indoor positioning. A guidance application for smartphones similar to car navigations systems would be perfect to help users find the quickest path to the booth of a specific company.
• LET YOU GUIDE FROM ONE SHELF TO ANOTHER IN A SHOPPING MALL: When entering for the first times in a big shopping mall, it might be difficult to find the store one is looking for. Later, after having found the store, the user might be interested in a specific article and do not want being looking for it through many galleries of articles and might make use of an application that guides him or her to the shelf where the article is located. Applications that calculate the shortest path to assemble a set of articles are also enabled with indoor positioning.