Location-based advertising for pedestrians and passengers
Mobile telecommunications networks are able to detect the location of the devices to which they send information. The project's trials involved location-based services for both pedestrians and users of public transport. The services themselves could be for advertising or tourist information. The first test involved providing pedestrians with relevant information about places to visit, things to do and directions to get there while walking around a town. The trial found that the location information available from GSM mobile phones, based on the position of the user relative to the cellular transmitters, was not sufficient. A follow up trial complemented this 'cell-id' information, indicating in which cell of the network the user is located, with Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite information. The combined system, called Assisted GPS (A-GPS), allows location of the user to an accuracy of about 10 meters and has the advantage of being compatible with most mobile operators' future technology strategies. Another area of testing concentrated on users of public transport. The aim was to deliver an advertisement for a specific shop indicating special offers for example, as the vehicle passes the shop, giving passengers time to alight at the next stop. In the trial a light-train's onboard computer synchronises an external signal indicating its approach to the next station with internally computed information based on the route-plan, direction and distance travelled. Based on a pre-programmed schedule, the onboard computer then selects the appropriate advertisement to be displayed on the train's high-resolution screens.
