The Beacon
What is a Beacon?
A beacon is a Bluetooth device which broadcasts a unique identifier on a regular basis allowing the apps installed on mobile devices to activate specific actions (e.g. push notifications, guide the user, etc.). The beacon, in order to maximize battery life, uses the Bluetooth Low Energy protocol and has no logic inside. For this reason, the logic is shifted to the apps using the beacons.
Where will the beacons be?
The beacons will be installed in the points of interest indicated on the following map:
You can have more details about the position of the installed beacon and the relative tourism Point of Interest at the following link:
How does beacon works?
The beacon works as follows:
1. Beacons broadcast a uniques identifies.
2. Smart-phones reads the unique identifier.
3. Smartphone wakes up the beacon enabled app.
4. The app recongnizes the beacon through its identifier.
5. The app reacts!
6. The user receives information.
Note: The beacon are only broadcasting an ID. This means that beacons are not able to collect information or make any other data elaboration.
How can I use a beacon?
As a final user I have to follow these steps to interact with a beacon:
1. Install a beacon aware app.
2. Activate Bluetooth.
3. Once near to a beacon recognized by the installed app the app will react.
As a company to use the beacons for my business I need to develop an App that receives and processes the beacon signal and activates specific functionalities depending on the position of the beacon.
As an app developer to use the beacons in the app that I’m developing I need to follow these steps:
1. Read the beacon identifier, use the provided SDK.
2. Request the beacon's position trhough the provided web service.
3. React!
Which are the typical use cases?
Some typical use cases where the beacons can be used are:
1. To locate the user even if in low GPS signal areas.
2. Precise position recognition in front of simple objects, like specific plants in a natural park or in a garden, in front of a statue, etc.
3. To implement indoor navigation and guides like for example in big building (e.g. hospitals, airports, train stations,), museums, showrooms, etc.
How can I report problems with the beacon network?
The beacon user can report problems with the beacon installed or the beacon network in general by sending an email at the following email address:
Important
In case of reporting of a problem, we kindly ask you to include in the email the following information:
- the beacon ID written on the device (es. ABT0001#gklRt9);
- the GPS coordinates and/or the address where the beacon is located;
- a photo of the broken beacon.
