The outdoor GPS is as common as it could get but indoor GPS, which although isn’t new has yet to be adopted on a wide scale or be perfected for general use. Now it seems like we might finally have a breakthrough in internal GPS technology thanks to the work done by Cambridge Consultants.
Scientists have created low power sensors that will serve the purpose of indoor GPS. The device is not yet named but is said to small enough to fit in the smartphones. It will take advantage of already present sensors including accelerometer, gyroscopes and magnetometers. The company has developed a special Bayesian algorithm that will make the accurate indoor GPS possible.
The company hopes to built this technology into the smartphones and other handheld devices and for the purpose it has already developed a concept chipset. Users will be able to map out their location or place they are at directly on it or send the info to the remote system.
Indoor tracking systems which process data from one or more sources of location information to estimate where a person or object is located are not new. But they often rely on RF signals from wi-fi access points or custom infrastructure, poor-quality GPS signals or expensive, high-quality sensors. The availability of low-cost smartphone components – including accelerometers, gyroscopes, magnetometers and pressure sensors – has enabled a new generation of location devices and applications, when combined with a tailored Bayesian algorithm to fuse the information.
The indoor GPS according to the company will be useful for professionals like firefighters and in hospitals but the applications for such a system are enormous.
Once this technology is perfected, it will be like playing a third person shooter game where you will have a map of the unknown building you are visiting and you will never have to make awkward social interactions to ask someone about where the washroom is among other things.