Applications of Smart Tagged RFID Tapes for Localization Services in Historical and Cultural Heritage Environments

Wireless systems providing accurate localization information to a visitor or a group of visitors moving in a cultural heritage area can be used to enhance/create new multimedia communication services aimed at improving their cultural experience. In this paper we propose an effective architecture for a low cost system providing localization information. It is based on the deployment of a (very) large number of passive RFIDs spared inside the cultural area. As shown in this paper, due to the adoption of smart tagged RFIDs tapes the setup and maintenance of the system is greatly simplified independently of the area (indoor and/or outdoor) where the localization system is deployed. System performances are analyzed by considering a study case. Evaluation is carried out in terms of the achievable accuracy in the position estimate and the costs of the RFID part of the system. Finally, a discussion on the additional wireless traffic required for transporting information for localization to the central (multimedia) server, is presented. Accuracy below one meter can be theoretically achieved by properly selecting the density of RFIDs e.g. the number of smart tapes and the RFIDs' distance on the tape.