GPS Capabilities to Expand to Indoor Spaces?

Did you know that the Soviet Union’s launch of Sputnik in 1957 has a specific connection to today’s sophisticated Global Positioning System? And that relationship is based on more than the fact that GPS depends on satellites to function. It’s because as Sputnik orbited the earth, scientists discovered that they could map its location based on the way its signals were being altered by the Doppler effect.

It didn’t take long for someone to turn the relationship around. If humans can map the location of a satellite… could we make a satellite that would map the location of humans? As a result of those kinds of questions, GPS was developed back in 1973 and became fully functional in 1994.

GPS technology seems ubiquitous today. It’s used in the aerospace and shipping fields. It’s used for trucking and package delivery. And it’s used in everyday citizens’ cars—whether as an installed feature in the vehicle or as a handheld or mounted portable device.

The capabilities of GPS technology are widespread. Not only can GPS navigation guide you from here to there via a route of your choosing (e.g., “fastest route,” “no tolls,” or “no interstates”), but it can also pinpoint your exact location second by second; it can tell you which restaurants and businesses are nearby; it can let you know how much time is left in your trip, how much gas mileage you’re getting, whether you’re speeding . . . and more. So have GPS’s capabilities been exhausted?

No, the next step for GPS technology seems to be indoor spaces. Imagine using your GPS not only to get you to the nearest shopping mall but, once you’re inside the mall, using GPS technology to get you to the right store—and even the right aisle in the store.

Aruba Networks, Apple, and Google have all been exploring the area of GPS mapping of indoor spaces.

• In May 2013 Aruba Networks acquired Meridian Apps, Inc., stating that with that acquisition they would be able to access software that would map large public indoor spaces—such as shopping malls, casinos, convention centers, and so on.


• In March 2013 Apple acquired WiFiSLAM, an indoor mapping software, with the goal of allowing businesses to offer better services to customers.


• Not to be outdone, Google has announced that it has collected over 10,000 maps of indoor spaces all over the world.

Other companies exploring indoor mapping via GPS technology are Microsoft (Bing) and Nokia. Will indoor mapping via GPS become as widespread as outdoor mapping has? We’ll wait and see.

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GPS Capabilities to Expand to Indoor Spaces?