Recent upgrades to Situm’s indoor positioning platform have also made an advance in the fluidity of the indoor-outdoor transitions, making it faster and easier to locate the user regardless of where they are.
Situm’s algorithm allows for accurate, real-time user positioning both indoors-outdoors with minimal dedicated infrastructure. However, the main challenge was inside the buildings. Where the external GPS signal does not work is where Situm’s technology is most significant: an algorithm that combines existing WI-Fi and Bluetooth data with the data provided by the phone’s inertial sensors that we all have in our pockets (pedometer, accelerometer, or gyroscope among others).
Although it seems that outdoor geolocation does not pose such an important initial challenge, the combination of both spaces, closed and open, a configuration that many of our clients have, does mean overcoming certain obstacles that, thanks to the development and improvements included in the latest algorithm update, we have been able to get through.
Although Situm so far allowed the integration of indoor-outdoor positioning so that the user could navigate at all times, the change between them could be slowed down and cause small inaccuracies in location that could require the installation of dedicated infrastructure.
Updating the algorithm for indoor-outdoor positioning
With the new update, all of this has been solved. Using Situm’s Dashboard, it is now possible to graphically differentiate between indoor and outdoor areas in a precise way, which also simplifies calibration.
In the left side you can see an user route transitioning from indoors to outdoors with some location mismatches. The image in the right side shows the same route after the update, completely smooth even when going in and out.
This update means three main advantages for our customers, along with associated benefits for the end-user:
- Lower cost: signal efficiency, no dedicated infrastructure needed.
- Better final user experience: more precision, no jumps.
- Faster system deployment.
Situm IPS, the indoor positioning platform also valid for buildings with outdoor areas
The precise delimitation of spaces will allow our clients to obtain better control over their facilities. As we will see below, besides the mentioned guidance, this differentiation by indoor-outdoor areas implies many other possibilities both for our customers and for the end-users.
In commercial centers such as El Corte Inglés or Carrefour, visitor guidance indoors is combined with other functionalities such as vehicle location in parking lots. This combination of spaces allows offering a complete service from the moment a customer or visitor enters the facilities either on foot, by public transport, or in their private vehicle.
Similarly, another representative case of use would be in airports. Traditionally, travelers move between outdoor (entrances/exits for pedestrians, public transport, or car parks) and indoor areas (terminals, boarding gates, shops, or restaurants). The most recent example is the airport manager AENA, which has relied on Situm’s indoor positioning technology (in addition to the collaboration of Carto and Telefónica) to create AENA Maps. This application, already available at the Madrid Barajas-Adolfo Suárez Airport, guides passengers through shopping areas, restaurants, or boarding gates, among other applications. With this new improvement, the application allows passengers to make these transitions quickly and smoothly.
The type of buildings where Situm is the most suitable option is much broader and diverse: hotels and resorts such as Grand Oasis Cancun in Mexico, hospitals such as Grupo Quirón, Medrics (Turkey), or SERGAS, convention centers, and office buildings.
If you are interested in finding out how Situm can help your company improve your visitors’ experience through indoor-outdoor positioning, or optimize your work processes throughout your facility, please do not hesitate to contact us.