Positioning data adds concrete value to applications

The potential of an indoor positioning system is huge. In addition to technology development, an important part is user-friendly applications.

Let’s be honest, the xyz position coordinate alone is not very interesting, rather what can be done with it and how it can be utilised. So, how to use positioning data? In fact, it can be used in countless ways. For example, it can help you find tools more easily in a production plant, determine the location of workers in a mine in emergencies, and enable hospitals to have up-to-date information on the location of supplies and staff. In addition, it can be used at different events to guide people along certain routes to avoid crowding.

The growth company Iiwari Tracking Solutions develops high-precision positioning solutions based on UWB radio technology, including networks, hardware and data.

“Positioning data will bring enormous added value to any application developed by customers and partners in any industry”, says user interface expert, CTO Teemu Lätti.

Applications and user interfaces are required for using positioning data, in addition to business logic, which is needed for applying and drawing conclusions from big data.

Examples of positioning data analyzes in different industries

 

Where are people moving around? Use a heatmap to find out

Iiwari’s positioning technology can be used, for example, in retail stores in an application, which includes a tablet with a location tag that is attached to the shopping cart. The received data can be monitored on the system’s dashboard.

The dashboard shows you which parts of the shop people visit the most and how they move around. It is also possible to calculate how many customers have walked down a particular aisle, how long they stayed there and where they went from there.

“These types of heat maps provide retailers a clear and visual tool. The displayed data allows retailers to carry out analyses and draw certain conclusions. The data can be used to change the placement of products in a shop or bring new products to the busiest parts of the shop”, Lätti says.

UWB technology can be used for accurate positioning anywhere, including industry, factories, or healthcare environments. Different features can be added to the dashboard according to the needs of each customer.

Examples of heatmaps in different industries; retail and healthcare

Tools, equipment and colleagues are easy to find

Every year, a significant amount of unproductive work accumulates from unnecessary walking and searching. The same problem repeats itself in production facilities, warehouses, hospitals, nursing homes, shops…

Any thing – be it a tool, a person or a device – can be tracked. Positioning helps to find all shared items, such as handheld terminals that control production. When the necessary equipment, components and colleagues can be found easily, work efficiency and satisfaction increase immediately.

Device utilization can even be doubled by using indoor positioning for location tracking.

Asset manager applications

 

Positioning can be used to track the location and use of hand tools. Efficient and quick search for tools and measuring devices and managing calibration dates is easy. Iiwari Asset Manager has been developed for this purpose.

Iiwari Asset Manager

Cost efficiency for the daily life of the shop

Consumers wandering around shops looking for products is a thing of the past. Lätti has already designed an experimental product picking application for Iiwari, which speeds up shopping trips considerably.

With the picking application, consumers can pre-select the products they need while still at home. As they move around, the application will show where, on which shelf, and even at what height each product is located. Customers can easily choose the fastest route to each product as the application will show them their location and that of different products.

“Such an application will greatly benefit shops’ own product pickers picking products for online orders. Pickers being able to see the location of products and the most optimal route to get to them saves both time and money”, Lätti states.

Iiwari Collect Application

The store’s routines include a time-consuming daily check of the last days of use of perishable products. Iiwari created Iiwari Store Manager, an application that runs on top of a location system that minimizes the need to check expiration dates.

Applications can illustrate the accuracy and practicality of positioning

The introduction and diffusion of any new technology must pass through many stages. People have already started to see the value of indoor positioning about improving efficiency and safety. The full extent of the possible applications of timely positioning data is still to be seen.

In the near future, a major step will be when consumers themselves will start to use indoor positioning, as the UWB chip becomes more common in mobile phones. Already now, the most advanced Apple and Samsung models carry a UWB chip and the first compatible applications are also being developed. – As applications and users begin to increase, there will be additional pressure to build necessary networks. If one shopping centre does not have an indoor positioning network that facilitates transactions and another one does, it becomes obvious how the first will have a clear competitive advantage compared to the second.

There are different technologies for indoor positioning on offer, but UWB is considered the best due to its accuracy and unambiguous measurement method. Different problems related to radio technology were solved a few years ago, and by now, Iiwari Tracking Solutions has managed to develop and commercialise cost-effective network construction and management solutions.

“With the help of applications, we can demonstrate the potential of indoor positioning and thus accelerate the spread of positioning technology. The development of UWB-based indoor positioning will be similar to that of GPS in the past. While at first, it was an expensive and rare technology, by now it has become commonplace and accessible to everyone in thousands of different applications”, Lätti states.