The Il Sole 24 Ore has published an article on the birth in South Tyrol of the greatest beacon network in Europe.
Beacons are small devices that send signals via Bluetooth. This allows apps to locate the user proximity with high precision and provide advanced functionalities for sending notifications ans detailed info about one or more points of interest nearby.
In the article a beacon is described as ”a digital device sending out a signal to apps on the mobile phone which, by exploiting the unique code, can understand with high precision where the phone is. At this point, the app algorithms offer info based on the user position. The device is passive: it doesn't gather users' data ensuring total privacy. Differently from Gps, the Beacon technology makes localisation possible enven indoors.”
For example, in the botanic gardens of Castel Trauttmansdorff in Meran, a great number of beacons will guide visitors along the path providing detailed info about the plants.
This digital infrastructure will be used first in the tourist sector and then extended also to road circulation and the public health sector.
Kompatscher, the president of South Tyrol Autonomous Region, says “«As it is an open and free platform, it can be used freely by developers, startups or any company from other regions. Thanks to this infrastructure, South Tyrol will become the best place for developers, researchers and experts from all over Italy who want to experiment new applications and technologies based on the Internet of Things. ».
SUGGESTO's role in the project
Suggesto is developing the App South Tyrol Beacon Guide and Recommender, an artificial intelligence algorithm. This innovative software provides personalized recommendations to users as well as allowing them to get detailed info near points of interest where beacons are placed.
How does the Recommender and Beacons work?
The recommendation system uses several info to automatically select activities or points of interest for the user. The user location, the moment, the popularity of a PoI, the previous activities chosen or appreciated make the basis to build a user model and find out the best solutions to his needs. This optimizes the possibility that the user appreciates a proposal and chooses it.
Beacons are used to locate the user and activate personalized notifications, even where GPS doesn't work or inside buildings.
Who can use the Recommender and the Beacons?
Tourist Operators and Boards, anybody in the tourist sector that wants to provide personalized digital information. Thus promoting tourist and commercial offers with a low structural impact and costs following a green philosophy based on the recent digital technologies and Internet of Things (IoT).
This is the presentation we made at the Barcamp in Meran.
Other scenarios
On holiday in Val di Fiemme, you can use the app SmartFiemme we developed to follow the augmented itineraries with beacons of the Hidden Wood of Daiano and the Painter Rasmo in Carano.
App for Android.
App for Apple.
If you want to know more, contact us! We can explain all the advantages of the digital communication.
