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1.2. How is it useful?

Learning Objectives

  • You will be able to distinguish between user activities and demands.
  • You will be able to list four types of activities and state how they relate to given goals.
  • You will be able to describe existing Location based services in terms of their application field, their accuracy needs and their room of usage (indoor or outdoor).

Introduction

Where am I? Where are my friends? What is here around me?

The idea behind LBS is to answer these and other questions. If designing LBS the user’s needs on information have to be met in order to make the services useful.

Where am I? Where are my friends? What is around me?

When individuals find themselves in an environment with which they are unfamiliar, their behaviour and needs are largely predictable, whether in their own country or abroad, in a vehicle or on foot. People need to find somewhere to eat, perhaps a pharmacy, somewhere to obtain cash, a taxi stand, and so on. When abroad, there are additional requirements: finding the local tourist attractions, getting around, locating a hotel and a foreign exchange. When driving, there may be other requirements, such as help with finding a route through an unknown city or details of breakdown services. Today, an ill-prepared traveller (who does not consult the Internet, buy a guide book, pick up information at the hotel or airport check-in, book in advance, etc) wastes a lot of time, and will not receive much help from his or her mobile phone. (Dru et al. 2001)

This Unit will first clarify what typical user actions are and what type of information therefore is needed. Second usefulness of LBS is shown by giving some examples of LBS which are already operational or will be soon.



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