Whats New in iBeaconRob Amos

iOS 8• Introduced at WWDC (June 2014)

• New Location Services Capabilities:

• Floor Detection

• Indoor Positioning System

• Lock Screen Store Proximity

Brand Name Deployments

• Duane Read trialling in New York

• Virgin Atlantic @ London Heathrow Airport

• ANKAmall in Istanbul, Turkey

• US baseball games

• US grocery chains (Giant Eagle, Safeway, Walgreens and Walmart)

iBeacon FundamentalsRob Amos

iBeacon Fundamentals

• Available Information

• CMS-backed Applications

• Trilateration / Indoor Positioning

Far

Near

Immediate

Available Information• One second averages

• Beacon details:

• Unique Identifier (Manufacturer)

• Major Number (Series, Site, Location)

• Minor Number (Beacon Number)

• Proximity (Immediate, Near, Far)

• Accuracy (Distance)

• RSSI (Relative Signal Strength)

RSSI Proximity Accuracy03:54:21 -53 near 2.26003:54:22 -53 near 1.98303:54:23 -58 near 2.06803:54:24 -53 near 1.81603:54:25 -49 near 1.36403:54:26 -49 near 1.12903:54:27 -53 near 1.17403:54:28 -55 near 1.29203:54:29 -54 near 1.33703:54:30 -54 near 1.36703:54:31 -53 near 1.35003:54:32 -51 near 1.26603:54:33 -51 near 1.21203:54:34 -51 near 1.173

Example

AWS Cloud

CMS Database

CMS Setup

• Changes are specific to each CMS

• Tie iBeacon to Content

• Simple WordPress Example:

• Add Page

• Set Permalink to /UUID-major-minor/

• Strip unnecessary HTML, show just content.

Application Flow

Ignore Broadcast

Receive iBeacon Broadcast

http://yourcms.com/UUID-major-minor/

iBeacon within range? Page exists?Already displaying

content? Fetch page for iBeacon Display page

Other Tips

• Report last seen time for each beacon → maintenance.

• Don’t rely on accuracy setting for point in time distance.

• Data smoothing improves accuracy but reduces responsiveness.

• Context-aware is just the beginning, use your imagination.

Trilateration (Indoor Positioning)

• Device coordinates on an x,y grid.

• Accurate to within 1-3m.

• Use device sensors (accelerometer, gyroscope) to improve accuracy.

• Calculated using signal strength and approximate distance to multiple beacons.

• At least three beacons required to be visible.

Trilateration Example1m1m

0, 0 0, 5

5, 0 5, 5

Proximity RSSI Accuracy

Beacon1 Near -65 2.83

Trilateration Example1m

0, 0 0, 5

5, 0 5, 5

1m

0, 0 0, 5

5, 0 5, 5

Trilateration Example1m

0, 0 0, 5

5, 0 5, 5

Proximity RSSI Accuracy

Beacon1 Near -65 2.83

Beacon2 Near -65 3.61

1m

0, 0 0, 5

5, 0 5, 5

Trilateration Example1m

0, 0 0, 5

5, 0 5, 5

Proximity RSSI Accuracy

Beacon1 Near -65 2.83

Beacon2 Near -65 3.61

Beacon3 Near -57 3.61

1m

0, 0 0, 5

5, 0 5, 5

Trilateration Example1m

0, 0 0, 5

5, 0 5, 5

2, 2

Proximity RSSI Accuracy

Beacon1 Near -65 2.83

Beacon2 Near -65 3.61

Beacon3 Near -57 3.61

Beacon4 Far -66 4.24

Trilateration Example

But it’s never that accurate!

1m

0, 0 0, 5

5, 0 5, 5

2, 2

1m

0, 0 0, 5

5, 0 5, 5

2, 2

Trilateration Example

Indoor Positioning is messy.

!

But usable.

1m

0, 0 0, 5

5, 0 5, 5

2, 2

Questions?