Category: Usecases

Detecting Falling Using Beacons

Beacons can be used to detect when something is falling. The classic usecase is healthcare where patients can be monitored and an alert generated when they have fallen. However, fall detection can be used in other areas such as mountaineering and construction where human life is in jeopardy due to the high risk of a fall. It’s not just people that can be monitored. Fall detection can be used for valuable/fragile items in places such as warehouses, factories or even in transit.

Detecting falling uses an accelerometer in the beacon. Some sensor beacons generate x y z data that can be used to programatically detect the fall. The problem with this is you need relatively complex local processing such as a smartphone or single board computer to analyse the x y z data. A solution is the iBS01G that not only detects that the beacon is falling but also indicates when the beacon is moving, has gone from still to moving or moving back to still.

The advertising data event status shows the movement states:

The states can be logged or shown directly in an app or sent to a server via a WiFi gateway.

Adding Beacon Functionalty

Since beacons became available there has been an emphasis on new companies creating new systems that use beacons. Now that beacons are maturing we are starting to see existing apps and systems add beacon-triggered functionality.

A very recent example is the FileMaker platform that has added iBeacon geofencing. Two other examples are car mileage logging apps that turn on/off in response to beacons and the Motorola MOTOTRBO range of two-way radios that include beacon detection so that they can support indoor positioning.

These scenarios are very different and therein lies the opportunity. Many existing systems, apps, services and products can be extended to provide for features based on location. Instead of looking for new things, that might experience difficulty gaining traction, think about what you (or your partners) already have and work out if beacons can provide added value.

Car Trip Logging Using iBeacons

We recently came a cross driversnote, an app for iOS and Android that keeps car trip logs. While the app obviously uses GPS for logging routes, an iBeacon can also be used to cause the app to start logging when you get in your car.

One tip for users of car trip apps is to make sure you use a waterproof beacon. The humidity and dampness in cars has been known to cause beacon batteries and battery contacts to corrode over time.

More Cruise Ships Using Beacons

We previously wrote about how Carnival Cruises was rolling out beacons on their cruise ships. MSC Cruises have recently announced that they will also be using beacons as part of their ‘MSC and Me’ technology to allow guests to track their kids, navigate the ship, receive messages and book activities.

The use of beacons in hospitality is currently an area ripe for innovation. Cruise companies seem to be one of the first, probably because a) beacons can impact on a large number of areas and b) the resultant data and opportunities for added value selling can be valuable to the companies.

Using Beacons for Switching Content

There’s a great new post on Medium on iPadlocks – The Magic of Activation Beacons by Geoff Elwood of Specialist Apps. Geoff talks about using Beacons to unlock information such as Adelaide Zoo education and career trails. This allows for differentiated learning that replaces “custom codes, logins or other bits of paper”. Different experiences can be provided to different groups.

In a different scenario Geoff describes how the Bendigo Heritage Trust switches beacons on/off to provide for content that synchronises with audio/visual content and the physical location of a moving tram.

At BeaconZone was have come across beacons switching content in two other scenarios. The first is at events where content on visual video walls is synchronised with different beacon advertising and hence different content. The other use is in digital signs in streets/shopping malls that change the beacon advertising in response to different advertising.

Machine Monitoring Using Bluetooth Beacon Sensors

There’s a new article at RFID Journal BLE Eavesdrops on Machine Health With Augury System that describes how Bluetooth LE sensors can be used to monitor machine health. Such systems can be used to detect when machines have been working, when they weren’t working and the ‘big data’ can sometimes be used to predict failure. Such events can trigger real-time alerts.

This scenario is an example of Beacon Proximity and Sensing for the Internet of Things (IoT). This isn’t limited to monitoring machines. It can be used to monitor people, animals, plants, stock assets or just about anything.

Beacon Locator Android App

A growing number of people are using beacons for personal use. Today, we added the Beacon Locator Android app to our Solutions Directory. It allows you to set up action types such as opening a URL, broadcasting an Android intent, starting an app, changing the sound profile and running tasks via Tasker in response to detecting or losing a beacon signal.

What’s especially interesting about this app is that it’s open source allowing you to extend it to a multitude of personal and business scenarios.

New Real-time Locating Systems (RTLS) Article

We have a new article on Using Beacons for Real-time Locating Systems (RTLS). It explains how beacons can be used with apps or gateways to automatically identify and track the location of objects or people. It also mentions how RTLS systems can be implemented using IoT platforms.

RTLS created with an Open Source IoT Platform

Areas where organisations have used BeaconZone beacons for RTLS include manufacture, warehousing and the tracking of equipment and people. The latter segment has included people on campus, lone workers and evidence based working (e.g. evidence based policing).

Beacons and Vending Machines

We are seeing an increasing interest in using beacons in vending machines. This is probably driven by Coca-Cola’s recent partnership with Signal360.

Beacons not only provide the opportunity for easier purchasing, via apps, from vending machines but also facilitate reward programmes and targeted contextual content based on the user’s location.

Vending machine companies contacting us are asking the usual questions regarding range and size. However, a more specific requirement is the ability to be mains powered. One way to achieve this is to use a smartphone-type USB mains adapter (offering a standard USB socket) and a USB beacon. Alternatively, the vending machine hardware might already have, or be able to be fitted with, a USB slot.