Your smartphone makes it easy to locate any restaurant in the heart of downtown, but it’s not much help getting you through a crowded airport. That is unless you’re travelling through London’s Gatwick Airport.
Spot the Dot
Recently, Gatwick Airport installed around 2,000 beacons in two terminals, creating an indoor navigation system more reliable than traditional GPS. This beacon-based positioning system, built on Bluetooth® technology, is the world’s first for an airport.
The system uses Pointr Labs’ blue-dot positioning service to provide an augmented reality tool that guides you through the airport. By following the path overlaid in the camera view of your mobile device, you can easily find check-in areas, departure gates, baggage claim, and more.
The Foundation for Future Benefits
Gatwick Airport’s beacon-based system is just the beginning. Moving forward, it will allow airlines and airport retailers to create added benefits, including real-time gate change and departure delay notifications, as well as promotional messages for nearby passengers.
“We’re opening the door for…new real-time services that can help passengers find their way around the airport, avoid missing flights, or receive timely offers that might save them money,” said Abhi Chacko, Head of IT Commercial & Innovation, Gatwick Airport.
What About Privacy?
As with any sharing technology, user privacy and the protection of personal data is always a concern. Gatwick says that no personal data will be collected, but that using generic information on traveler densities in different beacon zones may help improve airport operations. This includes fast queue measurement, streamlining passenger flows, and reducing overall airport congestion.
Simple to Install, Easy to Maintain
Beyond the benefits to passengers, Gatwick Airport’s beacon-based system is a low-cost option for indoor navigation. By using battery-powered beacons, Gatwick minimized logistical complexity while keeping installation and maintenance costs low. Plus, they got the entire system up and running in just three weeks and only needed two months for testing and calibration. This makes beacons a smart solution for optimizing air travel.
If you’d like to learn more about Bluetooth® beacon technology, or to learn how to integrate it into your products or apps, be sure to check out our two beacon developer kits.
FEATURED DOWNLOAD
Enhancing Bluetooth Location Services with Direction Finding
A new Bluetooth direction finding feature allows devices to determine the direction of a Bluetooth signal, thereby enabling the development of Bluetooth proximity solutions that can understand device direction as well as Bluetooth positioning systems that can achieve down to centimeter-level location accuracy.
3 Bluetooth Innovations That Will Have Major Market Impacts
A globally recognized standards body, the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) supports industry-leading companies…
ABI Snapshot - 2023 Bluetooth Market Update
The Bluetooth® Market Update, released annually by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG), highlights…
Analysts Provide New Forecasts for Key Bluetooth Solution Areas
Bluetooth® technology provides full-stack, fit-for-purpose solutions to meet the ever-expanding needs for wireless connectivity. After…
Micromobility is Changing the Face of Urban Transport
Even before Covid-19, consumers and cities valued the benefits of lightweight, low-speed personal vehicles.…
New Trends in Bluetooth Location Services SolutionsBluetooth位置情報サービス ソリューションの新潮流
Though Bluetooth® technology is best known for it’s audio streaming and data transfer capabilities,…
Bluetooth Technology Brings Location Services Solutions to a Historic LocationBluetooth技術が歴史ある場所にもたらす現代のロケーションサービスソリューション
NTT East, a subsidiary of NTT, is one of the world’s largest telecommunications companies.…
Using Bluetooth in Location Tracking Devices
Bluetooth ranging technology, which uses the distance between one or more devices through signal…
Now Available: New Bluetooth Forecasts and Trends最新版を公開：Bluetooth®︎市場動向
The Bluetooth® Market Update, released annually by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG), highlights…
2023 Bluetooth® Market Update
Featuring new market insights and industry forecasts from ABI Research and other analyst firms...
How a Bluetooth Sticker Makes it Easy to Track Anything
Bluetooth stickers, also known as Bluetooth tags or Bluetooth beacons, have multiple features that…
EJOT | INDUTRAX Case Study
EJOT, headquartered in North-Rhine Westphalia, Germany, is a group of medium-sized companies with production…
How to Effectively Use Bluetooth Location Beacons for Asset Tracking
Bluetooth location beacons can be used in a wide range of scenarios including asset…
The Importance of Standards in the Smart Retail Market
Retailers are increasingly looking towards Internet of Things (IoT) technologies to help them deliver…
The Benefits Of Bluetooth LE Connectivity In Power Tools
Integrating Bluetooth into power tools has emerged as one of the fastest growing –…
The Bluetooth® Technology Roadmap for the Future
Ken Kolderup, CMO of the Bluetooth SIG, shares recent and upcoming enhancements to Bluetooth®…
Bluetooth Development Training: Works With 2022
The role Bluetooth has played, and will continue to play, in the evolution of IoT…
Galleria Borghese, Rome Case Study
The Galleria Borghese Museum, based in Rome, houses works by Caravaggio, Raphael, Titian, Correggio,…
No More Queueing At The Hotel Check-in
Over two thirds of the British population now own a smartphone, using it for…
2022 Bluetooth® Market Update
Featuring new market insights and industry forecasts from ABI Research and other analyst firms...
Bluetooth Location Services
See 8 use cases for enhancing building efficiencies and creating a better visitor experience, discover new data that supports the latest trends and forecasts, and find out what’s driving the rapid adoption of location services solutions.
Tile is working with Lenovo to help you find your lost laptop
Announced at CES 2022, Tile and Lenovo are teaming up to make ThinkPad X1s…
The new Chipolo Card Spot puts Apple’s Find My network in your wallet
Chipolo has a new Bluetooth tracker it’s announcing at CES 2022, a new version…
7 AirTag tricks: Find lost stuff, return found items and more
CNET examines how Apple’s AirTags can easily help you track down lost items using…
2021 Bluetooth® Market Update
Supported by updated forecasts from ABI Research and insights from several other analyst firms, the Bluetooth Market Update highlights the latest Bluetooth trends and forecasts.
Designing and Developing Bluetooth® Internet Gateways
Learn about Bluetooth internet gateways, how to make them secure and scalable, and design and implement your own working prototype gateway and web application for use with either Bluetooth LE Peripherals or with Bluetooth mesh networks.
Lighting as a Platform
See how connected lighting systems are being used as a platform to enable advanced building services like wayfinding, asset tracking, and space utilization to improve the ROI of smart building investments.
Build a Smarter Building with Blue
See how Bluetooth increases reliability, reduces costs, and enhances your smart building ROI.
An Introduction to Bluetooth Beacons
Learn how to build your own Bluetooth beacon or integrate beacon technology into your existing products and apps.