Using and determining location in a context-sensitive tour guide

• Published in: Computer (Long Beach, Calif.) Calif.), 2001-08, Vol.34 (8), p.35-41
• Main Authors: Davies, N., Cheverst, K., Mitchell, K., Efrat, A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Applications; Base stations; Beacons; Broadcast technology; Broadcasting; Cities; Cities and towns; Electronics; Feedback; Global Positioning System; Network servers; Networks; Position (location); Radio access networks; Systems development; Tasks; Tourism; Tours; Web server; Wireless communication; Wireless networks
• ISSN: 0018-9162; 1558-0814
• DOI: 10.1109/2.940011

In a study that provided unique insights into the challenges associated with developing location-based applications, the Lancaster Guide project used members of the general public to test a network-centric electronic tourist guide. We discuss two main topics. The first is our choice of positioning technology - beacons that broadcast using an IEEE 802.11 wireless network combined with user input. The second topic concerns techniques for generating custom tours for electronic city-guide systems. Guide generates these custom tours by taking into account multiple contextual triggers and user preferences. In practice, producing good tours and, indeed, assessing the quality of a tour are difficult tasks. While our analysis of techniques for producing custom tours is somewhat specific to the city-guide domain we believe that the majority of our work is relevant to location-based systems in general.