The great indoors: The final frontier for digital navigation

Digital navigation has helped revolutionize the way people and objects are located and guided, but has been largely limited to outdoor uses. The indoor equivalent could add significant value for consumers and businesses alike.

Outdoor navigation systems are a staple in the modern world. Consumers often rely on the technology for directions and travel times, and businesses across industries use it for everything from fleet tracking to mobile workforce management. While digital navigation thus far has been primarily focused on such outdoor applications, the coming years are likely to see the expansion of indoor uses.

Currently, less than 5 percent of all precision digital navigation includes an indoor component, according to Deloitte Global1. By 2022, however, at least a quarter of all uses of precision digital navigation are predicted to include an indoor leg or an entirely indoor journey. This growth likely will be enabled by more abundant positioning data, improved analytical tools, better sensors, and higher quality indoor maps.

Precision indoor navigation could be transformative much in the way outdoor navigation has been. It could enable consumers to more easily find their way around large indoor venues such as malls or airports. It could help businesses locate items of value in a range of locations, from parts on a factory floor to barrels in a brewery. For marketers, location data can be used to send highly targeted marketing messages and to improve the customer experience. At entertainment venues, for example, indoor navigation can help consumers find seats more easily, locate the shortest refreshment lines, or have snacks delivered to their seats.

But realizing indoor navigation’s potential can require the maturation of multiple data sets. Satellitebased systems, which enable outdoor digital navigation, have a fundamental blind spot: Their signals, sent from a height of 24,000 kilometers, are often too weak to penetrate solid roofs by the time they reach ground level. While there is no single direct equivalent to the satellite systems used for outdoor navigation, an array of established and emerging data sets can, in combination, enable indoor navigation. At present, the two principal sources of indoor location data are Wi-Fi and cellular networks.

Wi-Fi networks

Wi-Fi networks, currently the richest source of indoor positioning data, can locate a destination to within a few meters by estimating the distance between a user’s device and the Wi-Fi routers that are within range. However, their effectiveness can depend on the density of the network, the accuracy of the database of router locations, and the proportion of devices that are Wi-Fi enabled. Objects or people located between a router and a device can block signals, leading to false location estimates; over time, however, devices are likely to become “smarter” about interpreting signals that encounter obstacles.

Cellular networks

Cellular networks can estimate a device’s location by measuring the signal strength from each base station within range. The degree of accuracy depends on the generation of cellular network to which the device is connected. On a 4G network, for example, location can be determined within a 50-meter radius, while 2G networks have a much lower cell density, so accuracy can fall to a 1-kilometer radius. In rural areas, which are less likely to have 4G networks, indoor positioning using this technique may work poorly. Over the next decade, network cell density should likely increase, first via 4G networks and then via 5G networks.

Several other technologies could be used to provide more accurate indoor positioning, each with benefits and weaknesses. Data sets are likely to become richer over time, enabling greater accuracy with every year. However, no single data set is likely to be strong enough on its own to deliver precise indoor navigation, making multiple data sets necessary. Over the medium term, the following could be used to complement existing data sets:

Beacons

Beacons—small, inexpensive modules equipped with Bluetooth low-energy functionality—determine location to within a meter, enabling them to potentially be used for a wide range of proximity marketing and indoor navigation applications. As of 2016, an estimated 7 million beacons had been installed globally, covering a much smaller area than Wi-Fi routers or cellular networks. A densely populated beacon network can guide people to individual shelves in a store or to seats on a train. Retailers use beacons to send targeted messages to in-store shoppers, and sports stadiums are using the technology to improve fans’ experiences.

LED lighting

LED lights generate a pulsing light signal and can send a unique identifier to a receiving device, most commonly a smartphone. LED lighting can be used to provide location accuracy to within half a meter, but as of early 2017, deployment was still nascent.

Ultra-wideband (UWB)

Ultra-wideband indoor positioning works by measuring range and angle estimates from a set of fixed points to a tag positioned on an object. The set of measurements is then used to calculate position, with accuracy within 5 to 10 centimeters. UWB sensors are typically positioned on the ceiling of a building. This approach, which requires a separate chip, is currently deployed in many factories and warehouses as a way of locating objects faster. Because of the current chip size and specialized nature of these sensors, it may be a decade before UWB capability is common in smartphones.

Magnetic positioning

This approach uses the compass on an individual’s phone to evaluate the disturbances in the gravitational field caused by metal structures inside the building. These magnetic disturbances create a unique gravitational footprint for every building that can be used to estimate location to within 2 meters. Magnetic positioning faces multiple challenges at present: it may require extensive mapping, and only works when the user is moving. In addition, reconfiguring a building’s interior—for example, by moving shelves—would probably change the magnetic signature and require remapping.

An improvement in indoor positioning accuracy generally will require a commensurate increase in indoor mapping. Multiple players may see significant benefit in generating these maps. Site owners are likely to regard them as a differentiator; a shopping mall, for example, could use indoor maps to help consumers find stores, departments, and even aisles faster. Many owners of mobile operating systems regard the creation of indoor maps as a core differentiator and have various mapping initiatives under way.

***** The potential of precise indoor navigation can be significant: It is likely to benefit most vertical sectors and have an impact on governments, businesses, and consumers alike. However, it will likely be challenging to deliver and, in the short term, difficult to guarantee consistently precise information. Much more research will be required to harness the many technologies that, collectively, could enable indoor navigation. The effort required will be substantial, but there’s a good chance the rewards will be too. For more information, please visit www.deloitte.com/mt/techtrends