London Gatwick Airport is the second largest airport in the United Kingdom. In order to make it easier for hurried passengers to enter their two terminal buildings, the airport plans to set up about 2000 beacons, first providing indoor map navigation for iPhone users, and then You can use augmented reality navigation.
At present, the airport has invested 250 million pounds (about 2.22 billion yuan) to reconstruct some airports. It plans to deploy all beacons within three weeks. They use battery-powered beacon lights, which not only simplifies installation but also reduces costs. . After deployment, the airport conducted tests and calibrations of these beacons for two months before it was made publicly available.
Since the GPS system cannot operate indoors, the beacon can be used as a landmark of the mobile device to determine the position of the passenger. In the initial phase of the project, the iPhone can obtain more accurate indoor navigation with an accuracy of up to 3 meters.
Beacons will also be used in conjunction with the upcoming Augmented Reality application. Passengers can use the iPhone camera to get a real-time road map and then reach the designated location based on the navigation arrows on the screen. Gatwick Airport is working with Pointr to manage the system, which is a British start-up company. They provide third-party SDKs that use a beacon system to support AR routing.
Using the SDK, the airport advised airlines to use beacons through their applications to send reminders to passengers based on the passenger's location and distance from the gate to help them reach the boarding gate faster. If the passenger agrees to receive the information, the retailer can also use the beacon to provide the passenger with related services.
The airport indicates that Gatwick and Pointr do not collect passengers’ personal data through the system, but they can receive “general information†about the density of people in different beacon areas. This is an anonymous data that can be used to help improve airport operations. , Including queuing management, sorting passenger flow and reducing terminal congestion.