I-Corps: Beacon-Enabled Smart Location-Based Service

This I-Corps project will identify the commercial potential for using Bluetooth low energy (BLE) beacon technology to provide new and low-cost location-based services. A BLE beacon actively broadcasts Bluetooth signals, which can be received by nearby Bluetooth-enabled smartphones. Thus, mobile applications can leverage the beacons that are installed at different locations to detect people's movements, for instance, sensing when people enter or exit certain locations, and estimating the number of people co-located at certain locations. Effective beacon-based solutions need to address the following: ensure accurate movement detection when different beacons' Bluetooth signals interfere with each other; provide a scalable service where a large number of beacons can be supported by different mobile platforms; and include privacy-preserving features to address people's privacy concerns. This project will lead to a better understanding of varying requirements for beacon-based location services and how they might be customized to potentially service a variety of market verticals.