Location based Information Streams

Applications
Title	Location based Information Streams
Author(s)	Rui Barradas Pereira.
Level	Basic
Year of Publication	2011

Location based Information Streams consists on pushing information to the user depending on its location and on the assumption that this information will be useful and welcomed by the user.

The information provided by these services can vary from information of nearest services or stores to alerts on traffic jams and location based advertising. In some cases the information is provided without user request while on other the information is provided on request.

Application Architecture

Location based Information Services depend normally on an architecture that includes a user mobile device and an information server usually accessible through the internet.

The user mobile device is usually a mobile phone with internet access, localization capabilities and a rich user interface.

The process usually followed by these applications is:

• The user mobile device can make requests and send the user position to the information server.
• The information server receives the user requests and position, determines whether there is relevant information to provide to the user and sends it to the user
• The mobile device device presents the information to the user.

Variants to this architecture are:

• SMS can be used for communication between user device and information server.
• Local databases can be used instead of an online server.
• Information can be either provided on demand or "pushed" to the user upon some event such as entering or leaving a certain area.

Push vs. Pull Services

There are 2 main variants of this kind of applications:

• Pull Services: The user uses the mobile application to request information based on its location. Examples of these applications are applications where the user requests the nearest ATMs and the information server responds with a list of the closest ATMs, eventually with navigation instructions to get there.
• Push Services: The position of the user is monitored by the information server and when the user position triggers determined conditions (such as entering a determined area) the information is sent automatically to the user. Normally the user activities the services and normally can configure the conditions in which information is pushed to his device. These services might require that an application is kept running in the background feeding the user position to the information server. Examples of such applications are advertising applications that send discount coupons to users in the proximity of a store.

These kind of services can raise privacy concerns, specially Push Services since the position of the user might be shared with third-parties without user consent. To protect the user from this some countries have passed legislation to guarantee that the position of the user is only used with its consent and that no messages are sent unless the user explicitly activates the service.

Application Examples

Application types that fit in this category are:

• Requesting the nearest business or service, such as an ATM or restaurant
• Receiving alerts, such as notification of a sale on gas or warning of a traffic jam
• Location-based mobile advertising
• Augmented reality

Augmented reality

While most of these applications types are now reality and are available for use, Augmented reality is currently still under research or with few commercial or professional uses.

Augmented reality consists in enhancing real-world environments with information that would be superimposed on real-world images. This technology is already used in the Head-up displays of fighter planes and some luxury cars.

The combination of LBS and augmented reality technologies would allow to have information about the surrounding of the user superimposed in real-world images that could be captured by cell-phone cameras or by the use of special glasses providing a blending of reality with the additional location based information that the user requires.