The Rising of Bluetooth Beacon

For Beacon, 2013 was an extraordinary year, because Apple released the iBeacon standard, and then in the next few years we gradually began to see Beacon widely deployed in various facilities, such as Beacon deployed in stadiums, schools, train stations and popular retail stores to help visitors navigate in the surrounding environment and receive promotional offers and other information to enhance the overall customer experience.

1 - The Rising of Bluetooth Beacon

How to use Beacon and where to use it?

Beacon is a small device that can be easily placed in any location and can send continuous signals to any mobile device within the transmission range. Therefore, building networks can realize indoor positioning and location-based services with the help of Bluetooth technology, such as  navigation, asset management, and landmarks.

2 - The Rising of Bluetooth Beacon

Miami International Airport is the first airport in the United States to adopt Bluetooth Beacon technology

 

Beacon is ideal for sharing information, locating, and tracking items or devices for visitors. Not only that, they can also provide visitors to venues such as museums and stadiums with a richer and more personalized experience.

The most striking thing about the Beacon application is its deployment at the airport. It can realize people flow monitoring, indoor navigation, and help passengers find the correct location. ProximityDirectory’s report pointed out that by 2023, 84% of the world’s airports will adopt Beacon technology.

Beacon applications examples

  1. Gatwick Airport in the United Kingdom has installed about 2,000 Beacon in two terminals. The system uses PointrLabs’ blue-dot location service to create an augmented reality (AR) tool to guide passengers to find their destination in the airport.
  2. The United States Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport and San Diego International Airport have adopted a BLIP systems’service to monitor and manage travel time, queuing time, and movement patterns with the help of Bluetooth sensors.
  3. Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, Houston George Bush Intercontinental Airport, and William P. Hobby Airport in the United States use LocusLabs technology to help passengers bring up maps on their mobile phones and guide them to terminals and shops.
  4. New York John Fitzgerald Kennedy (JFK) Airport relies on Beacon to monitor each passenger’s Bluetooth mobile phone, understand their movement in the airport, and help staff prevent congestion in time before problems escalate and cause delays.
  5. Miami International Airport was one of the first adopters of Beacon technology. Using the data collected by the Bluetooth Beacon, the airport’s application (App) can remind passengers about the boarding gate, flight time and baggage claim information.

Beacon is a step towards intelligence：

Bluetooth Beacon technology has created great possibilities for the realization of truly smart buildings. It can not only guide users to the destination they want to go, but also support object search services (tracking lost keys or wallets), and it can also broadcast landmark information (museums, tourism, and education). These advanced services not only enhance the visitor experience, but also improve the long-term return on investment in smart buildings.

Nowadays, Bluetooth Beacon is helping people better understand relevant information and navigate in the surrounding environment more easily. In the future, Beacon technology will continue to support new smart building innovations while helping to build a truly smart city.