You are here: what happens when GPS goes inside?

Issue 86: June 2012

You are here: what happens when GPS goes inside?

Few people would disagree that GPS has dramatically improved our view of the world. But it has one major problem: it can't see indoors. A new breed of innovators is responding to this limitation with technologies that reveal what's inside our buildings… and the possibilities are inspiring.

Instead of using satellites, as is the case with GPS, emerging IPS (indoor positioning systems) tools use radio waves to reveal the position of a smartphone user on either 2D or 3D maps. To achieve this, detailed floor plans are required and objects within a building must be tagged with transmitters.

At the moment there is no universal standard for IPS technology. However it's only a matter of time before one platform proves itself as the superior approach and when that occurs IPS is destined to change the way we meet, consume, navigate and play.

Mapping the possibilities

Just as GPS has largely replaced physical street maps, emerging IPS apps have the potential to make it easier to navigate large built environments like shopping centres, hospitals, hotels, universities, sports complexes and airports.

IPS technology also has the ability to locate people, those who want to be found that is, with an accuracy range of a few metres. This means finding a colleague at busy conference is potentially as easily as asking your smartphone to show their position on a map.

Another benefit of IPS is its ability to locate objects within buildings. This development would require the 'tagging' of just about every object in a built environment to make it easy to find desired items and for these items to 'talk' to the smartphones of passing consumers or staff.

Navigating the market

Imagine the possibilities of a 'smart' shopping list that mapped out the most efficient way to buy Christmas presents. Or a flashing dot that revealed to shoppers where their children could be found in a busy shopping centre.

At a time when bricks and mortar retailers are struggling to complete with cheaper but largely unengaging online websites IPS may be the killer application that lures people back to the shops.

The potential exists for IPS to provide a dynamic experience to shoppers with in-the-moment offers that appear when they pass by an item. The location of a shopper may also be a cue for a product to provide information about itself in the form of video, audio or text.

And just as online retailer Amazon serves up product suggestions based on a consumer's previous interactions, IPS applications could provide bespoke ideas that intuitively respond to the purchasing history of loyal shoppers.

Beyond the hard sell

For many consumers the idea of exposure to more marketing messages, either with or without discounts, may seem like a nightmare rather than blessing. Fortunately there is more to IPS than location based sales propositions.

Advocates claim IPS may come to feature heavily in future occupational health and safety procedures as a means of achieving better building evacuations or as a high-tech approach to inducting new staff.

Innovative approaches to training are another possibility. Future IPS applications may allow staff to extend their knowledge of workplace procedures by merely pointing their smartphone at an object to access layers of information.

The system also has the potential to empower the sight impaired or elderly by acting as navigation or discovery tool that brings built environments to life though the use of audio delivered directions and information.

IPS for every organisation?

One of the key challenges ahead for IPS is whether organisations will be prepared to hand over information about their buildings to external developers; a condition that may result in a patchwork of IPS coverage rather than a universal GPS-like world view.

Cost is another limiting factor. But even though IPS is currently being rolled out by large retailers like IKEA in the US it will not always be out of the reach for smaller businesses. In fact, it's widely predicted that as the technology becomes more widespread prices will drop.

And as the cost falls a higher degree of innovation will occur as both developers and users find new and unexpected applications for a technology that can do much more than just provide directions.

More on the future of IPS

Whitespace is published monthly by the Australian Institute of Management - Qld & NT. Sign up to have a copy sent direct to your mailbox.

Whitespace

Tweet about Whitespace

Register now for your free edition of Whitespace

The Australian Institute of Management's Whitespace discusses emerging business trends, and represents a 'space to think of the future'. Register now to have this monthly feature emailed to you.