Using BLE to Pre-empt Transitions between Smart Indoor Spaces

One of the abiding concerns of relatives of people with intellectual disability who are approaching adulthood, and those who care for senior citizens with cognitive impairment, relates to scheduling and organisation of daily activities such as commuting, medication plans and appointments. With appropriate software, information can be collected and harvested to support ID service users or aging people who have lost part of their cognitive skill. One key enabler in this system is the smartphone that has become part of modern life. Although the GPS capabilities of smartphones work well for outside locations, indoor positioning is still problematic and indoor location is a vital awareness component in ambient assistance. This study considers the use of Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) Received Signal Strength Indicators (RSSI) from either a smart phone or beacon to assist with user embarkation and transition between spaces. The full scope of the study considers the impact of phone orientation, whether a phone is in the hand of the user, how performance can be impacted by presence of typical office furniture and the impact of different phone models. In this preliminary version we focus on differences between whether the phone is in the hand of the user or on a table top and how RSSI information can be used to develop services that predict and assist with behaviour of users as they move between locations.