A Location-based Mobile Service utilizing Anonymous Indoor User Location Data: An Empirical Study

Abstract

In recent years, navigation and location-based services have automatically been integrated into people's lives. The prevalence of devices with GPS-capabilities have exploded since the first device for end-users was presented, and most new smart phones have GPS and Wi-Fi capabilities. New fields such as outdoor and indoor location-based services have come from these opportunities. One area that has not been thoroughly researched is the usage of anonymous location data from indoor positioning services. This is expected to be even more successful than GPS technology since people spend 80-90 % of their time indoors. Cisco MSE utilized at NTNU Gløshaugen today, provides applications with the possibility to utilize anonymous data from indoor positioning systems.In this Thesis a mobile service is created through an application for Android devices that uses anonymous indoor location-based data, aimed primarily towards students at NTNU. The data contains information based on the amount of Wi-Fi enabled devices located on Gløshaugen, either in a specific room or area. A good presentation of these data combined with location-based services can increase the utilization of the university's areas and resources, but also to solve an underrated need: lack of reading desks for students. The prototype was developed in accordance with general principles of user interface design for mobile applications and the end-users' influence to obtain a result that covers all the needs for all interest groups. This was followed by a study where 41 participants tested the final product.The results of the acceptance evaluation shows that there is an interest for applications that use anonymous indoor location-based data. The proposed solution demonstrated good usefulness as a mobile service in students' daily lives.