NavApp: An indoor navigation application: A smartphone application for libraries

Abstract

Indoor Navigation Services (INS), a branch of Location Based Services (LBS), are aiming at locating people inside a building and guiding them to their destinations by using various techniques, either individually or fused. INSs deal with the peculiarities of indoor environments (no GPS, navigation XYZ, etc.). This paper, based on a previous research, sketches an ideal profile of an INS, which should be as independent as possible from a pre-deployed infrastructure. We also present a use-case, i.e. a navigation in a big university library; such app, called NavApp, guides users in locating the books in the library shelves for picking or storing, by using Magnetic Fields, and fusing installed sensors, when available. NavApp covers the whole mobility lifecycle, namely mapping and positioning using, path planning, en-route assistance; its field-tests show an 86% success. Hence, NavApp looks attractive, because it is lightweight and does not require a pre-deployed infrastructure. However, it needs preparation phase, to create the map of magnetic fields and calibrate smartphones.