SubwayPS

Abstract

Thanks to rapid advances in technologies like GPS and WiFi positioning, smartphone users are able to determine their location almost everywhere they go. This is not true, however, of people who are traveling in underground public transportation networks, one of the few types of high-traffic areas where smartphones do not have access to accurate position information. In this paper, we introduce the problem of underground transport positioning on smartphones and present SubwayPS, an accelerometerbased positioning technique that allows smartphones to determine their location substantially better than baseline approaches, even deep beneath city streets. We highlight several immediate applications of positioning in subway networks in domains ranging from mobile advertising to mobile maps and present MetroNavigator, a proof-ofconcept smartphone and smartwatch app that notifies users of upcoming points-of-interest and alerts them when it is time to get ready to exit the train.

Transporte público inteligente al alcance de sus manos

“…Más allá del típico uso del GPS, SubwayPS (Stockx, Hecht, & Schöning, 2014) toma en cuenta que bajo techo dicha señal se pierde, e implementa un sistema basado principalmente en el acelerómetro para brindar ayuda al posicionamiento en las redes de metro. Más cerca de los intereses del presente proyecto, Palumbo et al (Palumbo, Barsocchi, Chessa, & Augusto, 2015) investigan el uso de Bluetooth Low Energy, BLE, y Received Signal Strength, RSS.…”

Disabled, but at what cost?

“…slope of sidewalks or different surface properties like sand or cobblestone, which are difficult to overcome in a wheelchair). Various approaches analyzed the accessibility of sidewalks with sensors and technical equipment such as depth cameras or acceleration sensors [3,4,5,6,9,12,16,19,20].…”