Walking navigation gets REAL specific, adds a new dimensions Mobile Phones / AU Posted by zmcnulty on Oct 19, 2004 - 08:43 PM |
|
You've heard me mention EZ Navi Walker on here before (this week, in fact), but this new technology jointly developed by KDDI and NEC adds a new dimension to an already cool technology. Not only can you navigate inside of buildings, but you can navigate from a floor-by-floor basis. For example, the navigation software can even tell you to "go up the escalator to the 5th floor," and follow you throughout the building. How is this done? Bluetooth. At the "ITS World Conference Aichi/Nagoya 2004," KDDI and NEC held a demonstration of a 3D pedestrian navigation system. The demonstration was held in the "Oasis 21" underground shopping center, which is close to the Nagoya Art and Culture Center, where the opening ceremonies of the conference were held. The demonstration was of a pedestrian navigation option that can operate where there cannot be GPS signals - such as in underground shopping centers or inside buildings. Not only movement along a particular plane, but since the technology also supports movement from floor to floor, it is said to be 3D navigation. At the demonstration, NEC-made transmission instruments called "InfoSigns" were placed at a couple of tens of meters inside the underground shopping mall, which would provide inputs such as latitude, longitude, and "what floor." When an A5504T phone with Bluetooth ran a specific BREW appli, it would read the position information from the InfoSigns using Bluetooth, then in turn download map data based on that information using the CDMA packet network. While on the typical EZ Navi Walker Application, the position information is trasmitted from a GPS satellite, this demonstration used InfoSigns every 20 meters or so that would provide position information instead of GPS. As these InfoSigns' only purpose is to transmit position information to cellular phone using Bluetooth, there need not be any special preparations for connecting to some specific network; they can be setup by just plugging them in. The means that costs can be reduced when deploying these over a large area. The map data is from the Ministry of Domestic Transportation. The maps are also equipped with "barrier-free countermeasures," so that users in wheelchairs can search routes for "Wheelchair Persons with a Chaperone" and just "Wheelchair Person." These search options will return route results that include elevators and escalators, rather than stairs. The usage of the system is exactly like EZ Navi Walker. The application itself is described using BREW. Just like current BREW applis, phone calls can be taken while navigating. However, one of the kinks yet to be worked out with this system is how the position information won't renew as you get so close to the InfoSigns; this will cause problems when you change your walking speed, the Bluetooth reception drops out, or corners and other such complexities come about. Also, your voice needs to be used while looking at the map. As the A5504T does not contain a digital compass, and though the map itself cannot be rotated, the correct direction can be calculate based on information coming from the InfoSigns. KDDI has said that if a phone contains both Bluetooth and digital compass, rotating the map itself should be possible. One admirable feature of this technology is that when you leave underground or the building, the position information source will be automatically switched from those with a Bluetooth connection to a GPS connection. This would make planning with EZ Navi Walker a piece of cake. Changing over from "indoors" to "outdoors" is seamlessly done by the application, and doing so requires no input from the end user, such as selecting a mode from a menu. While the InfoSigns and map data and other environment data are somewhat complete, the software development has reached the "thoroughly developed" stage.  [1]Inspired by: http://k-tai.impress.co.jp/cda/article/event/21039.html [2] Press Release: http://www.kddi.com/corporate/news_release/2004/1014b/ [3] |
|
This article is from TechJapan http://www.techjapan.com/ The URL for this story is: http://www.techjapan.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=610 Links in this article [1] http://www.techjapan.com/images/1004/101904/its06.jpg [2] http://k-tai.impress.co.jp/cda/article/event/21039.html [3] http://www.kddi.com/corporate/news_release/2004/1014b/ |
