Indoor localization with wayfinding techniques

• US 20110276266A1
• Filed: 03/03/2011
• Published: 11/10/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 03/03/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Northwestern University
• Original Assignee: Aaron E. Ballew, Aleksandar Kuzmanovic, Chung Chieh Lee, Nikolay A. Valtchanov, Shiva Srivastava
• Inventors: Ballew, Aaron E., Valtchanov, Nikolay A., Lee, Chung Chieh, Srivastava, Shiva, Kuzmanovic, Aleksandar
• Granted Patent: US 8,731,817 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/201
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/206 specially adapted for indoor navigation

Abstract

A user proceeds from one location to another location inside of a building by traveling in a sequence of several hops in response to different visual cues. A portable handheld device may provide the visual cues to the user. The user reaches the destination through the sequence of hops using the portable handheld device.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

designating a destination of a user inside a building with a portable handheld device;

determining a number of visual cues based on the destination, the visual cues each corresponding to a viewable aspect inside the building;

providing a first set of the visual cues to the user through the device;

directing the user from a first location to a second location inside the building based on the first set of the visual cues;

providing a second set of the visual cues to the user through the device; and

directing the user from the second location to a third location inside the building based on the second set of the visual cues.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

downloading a map of the building onto the device.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the portable handheld device is a smartphone.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

wirelessly downloading the visual cues to the portable handheld device.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing the visual cues from a website over a 3 G or 4 G data network.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

processing a map of an indoor space of the building with a computing device.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing a localization of the user in the building.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein providing the localization includes determining a region based on visual cues identified by the user.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the visual clues includes a digital image of the likeness of a feature within the building.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

controlling a compass to point in a direction of the destination.

11. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

displaying the map on device.

12. An apparatus, comprising:

a wireless transceiver; and

a processing device operatively coupled to the wireless transceiver, the processing device being structured to execute operating logic to download a map of an inside of a building, wherein the map is encoded with a set of coordinates and corresponding features;

provide a plurality of features to a user to select the features that are visible to the user in the building; and

direct the user along a path to a destination based on the selected features.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, further comprising:

means for displaying a digital image of the likeness of at least one of the features within the building.

14. The apparatus of claim 12, further comprising:

a compass to point in a direction of the destination.

15. A method, comprising:

designating a destination inside a building with a handheld portable device;

selecting a number of different visual cues to provide to a user of the device based on the destination, the visual cues each corresponding to a different feature viewable by the user inside the building;

directing the user from one location to another location inside the building by traveling in a sequence of several hops in response to the different visual cues and the user reaching the destination through the sequence of hops.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

downloading a map of the building from a website over a 3 G or 4 G data network onto the device; and

displaying the map on the device.

17. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

providing a localization of the user in the building.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein at least one of the visual clues includes a digital image of the likeness of a feature within the building.

19. A system, comprising:

a computing device to provide several visual cues based on a map of an indoor region; and

a portable handheld device operable to provide a user thereof the indoor visual cues to direct the user to an indoor destination by user-identification of a number of intermediate locations based on the visual cues.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the computing device is a server.

21. The system of claim 19, wherein the portable handheld device is a smartphone.

22. The system of claim 19, further comprising:

means for processing the map to generate the indoor visual cues.

23. The system of claim 19, further comprising:

means for wirelessly communicating the visual clues to the portable handheld device.

24. The system of claim 19, further comprising:

means for localizing the user.