Tag Archives: micro-location

#8 • Beacons & Micro-Location

Sure, GPS was a game-changer. But as stars were to ancient mariners, “beacons” are the true wayfinders of the Internet of Things. They’re the enabling tech behind “micro-location”, and they’re about to revolutionize location services all over again.

Beacon on clothes rack

Topics

  • What are “beacons”?
  • Beacons vs. iBeacons
    • Generic names vs. Apple branding
    • Compatibility
  • Cost
  • Design
  • Hardware and service providers
  • GPS vs BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy), and why you need both
  • Micro-location applications (see “Use cases” section below for more)
  • A way for retail to compete with Amazon?
  • Geofencing
  • Ultra-microlocation (!)
  • Light (vs. RF) becaons

Links

Use cases

While the use cases for this technology is pretty endless, here are just a few we touch on:

  • Airports
  • Shopping malls
  • Retail
    • Personalized shopping
    • In-store contextual advertising
    • Radically different checkout experience (“real-life one-click”)
  • Augmented reality
  • Casinos
  • Museums and libraries
  • Medicine (Proteus are pills that notify a patch that you’ve digested the pill)
  • Sports and games
  • Theme parks
  • Within a car (!)