Apple Will Employ Robots to Map Building Interiors

Apple Robots Indoor Maps

Cupertino has found another way to compete against Google, and this time it’s the search giant’s Indoor Maps it’s going after. Apple Maps are said to include this feature as early as next month.

Rumors regarding Apple’s upcoming iOS 9 have started piling up a few months ago, and at that time, it seemed that the main focus will be on making the mobile operating system more stable and better optimized, instead of just adding countless features to it. More recently, reports regarding Apple Maps suggest that the company took an interest in mapping subway, train, and bus routes, as well as building interiors.

To make indoor maps, Apple won’t rely on 3D mapping smartphones such as Google’s Project Tango. Instead, it will use robot mapmakers whose moving patterns won’t differ that much from Roomba’s (pictured above in a timelapse photo). More than that, Apple’s robots will also be similar in size to the Roomba robotic vacuum cleaner. In terms of connectivity, however, there will be substantial differences, as the Cupertino company will equip its mapmakers with Bluetooth and one of its own technologies, iBeacon.

Of course, the first buildings to be mapped will include shopping malls, airports, and museums (in other words, buildings visited by millions of people a year), but I would suggest going even further, to map hospitals and universities. It became virtually impossible to get lost in the outdoors as long as you have a smartphone or a tablet, and an Internet connection, but somehow building interiors still represent a challenge that we will soon be able to overcome.

It took Apple two years since purchasing WiFiSlam (the startup that invented a technology that relies on ambient Wi-Fi signals to pinpoint your location) to come up with something in this field, but it is yet uncertain if the robot mapmakers will use the same technology. One can’t help but wonder if the indoor maps made by Apple will be any good. The competition is known to make far more accurate maps when it comes to the outdoors, so Cupertino actually has the chance to turn the tide. Not so long ago, Apple Maps was suggesting routes so illogical they could kill a Vulcan, whereas Google Maps have been showing people the right path (does this sound religious or what?!) for quite a few years now.

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Google Nearby Opens The Door For Indoor Mapping and Automation

Google-Nearby-630x262

Google may be preparing to launch a new technology to improve indoor mapping, targeted advertising, and home or office automation.

Anyone that remembers life before smartphones might remember the days when navigation was done using signs, landmarks, and paper maps. GPS and mapping features are some of the most popular apps and features provided by modern technology, but the services are largely take for granted.

Mapping technology is incomplete, though. Since GPS relies on signal from satellites, maps (usually) requires line of sight to the sky in order for service to function properly. Google has improved mapping some by using locally mapped WiFi signals to triangulate a rough approximate location as a supplement to improve the accuracy of GPS, but still doesn’t solve for major gap in navigation: it doesn’t work indoors.

Anyone that has ever tried to navigate a shopping mall might be familiar with trying to orient a mall kiosk map in order to find a specific storefront. This is one area that smartphones would be of great use, except GPS doesn’t work indoors, and WiFi isn’t prevalent enough to provide an accurate location.

Apple has previously launched its “iBeacon,” which is a Bluetooth low energy beacon that helps establish way-points. Now Google is rumored to be launching a similar service called “Nearby.”

So far, a lot of the uses for similar Bluetooth devices, such as iBeacon, has been to enable advertisers to target potential customers (go figure). For example, a mannequin in a clothing store could be equipped with a beacon, and when it detects a phone from a nearby customer (if allowed by the customer’s privacy settings) and it could automatically push a notification containing a coupon for whatever item of clothing the mannequin is dressed in.

This type of function is fairly common for many new technologies, as they need to have a way to generate revenue in order to encourage adoption and fund the research and development of additional features.

If Google is entering the market with Nearby, then there could be a boom of these devices being implemented in many new ways. The market for indoor mapping, as specified above, is virtually untouched currently, but there’s also a huge opportunity for implementation in home automation and office automation.

For home automation, it could function hand in hand with products like Nest (another Google product) to determine how many people are in various rooms in order to efficiently provide heating or cooling. It could also be incorporated with smart lighting so that lights turn on and off as you enter or exit a room. Or even more fun, change the mood lighting (brightness, color) based on how many people are in a room and the level of activity.

Outside of the home, offices are finding a massive productivity boost from the use of automation features. Many companies find that there’s a paradox in office communication. Email is becoming less and less productive from overuse, but as a result, conference rooms are also getting overbooked and unavailable.

some companies–such as Solstice Mobile, the leading provider of enterprise innovation and mobility solutions–have created full blown smart-offices, relying heavily on Bluetooth beacons. This creates efficiencies across the board, because power is better conserved by dimming lights and other power draws to inactive areas, but also efficiencies in work productivity. Workers can find where their colleagues are located at any time in order to have a quick face to face meeting, reducing both email and conference room congestion.

There are entire categories of untapped features that could be utilized as services such as Google Nearby become more prevalent, in addition to the augmenting of existing popular services, such as maps and navigation.

Of course some people might not be the biggest fans of many of the effects of this service, due to very valid privacy concerns, but fortunately there are enough applications in the privacy of your own home or office to give any technology fan something to be excited about!

Sensibo Smartens Up Your Air Conditioning Unit

Sensibo Air Conditioner Smart Adapter System 01

Why should only the TV, the blinds and the garage door be the only smart things in your home, when you could easily add the air conditioner to the list? All that you need to do is a small adjustment using the Sensibo smart adapter system.

To qualify for an upgrade, your air conditioning unit must be operable with a remote control. Supposing that this is the case, you can convert any unit into a smart one using this little gadget. The Sensibo smart hub that’s part of the system is able to control multiple Sensibo pods that correspond to the air conditioners from your home or office. In turn, the Sensibo hub relies on its built-in Wi-Fi connectivity to communicate with your router. The pods, on the other hand, are applied on the A/C’s surface and transmit signals over IR, hence the prerequisite from before.

The Tel-Aviv-based company that developed Sensibo claims that the smart adapter system does not only add intelligence to air conditioning units, but it also reduces the energy usage by up to 40%. How is that achieved? Integrated iBeacon technology can tell where in your home you are located, and can adjust the A/C unit accordingly. When you leave a room, the AC unit stops, energy is saved, and so is the planet.

In addition to that, Sensibo is able to adjust your air conditioner automatically depending on:

  • Air temperature
  • Relative humidity
  • Weather
  • Energy profile

The Sensibo smart hub can be controlled with an app that can be installed on iOS and Android devices, as well as on the Pebble smartwatch. Now that’s something that many developers aren’t taking into consideration when building a device for smartening up dumb devices: doing so using a wearable!

Sensibo is quickly approaching the $70K goal it established for the crowdfunding campaign that’s currently running on Indiegogo. At press time, there were 41 days left, and considering that the developers raised 58% in four days, chances are that Sensibo will hit mass production and will be delivered to the backers in January 2015.

Sensibo: Make any air conditioner smart from Sensibo on Vimeo.

Duo kits are available for early birds for $139, and additional pods can be purchased for $69. People who only want a single kit, however, will have to back the project with $79. The hilarious ad that Sensibo made for this product (see above) should be more than enough to convince people that a smart adapter system for their A/C unit is exactly what they needed.

Be social! Follow Walyou on Facebook and Twitter, and read more related stories about the Jalousier smart blinds and the SONTE Film Wi-Fi shades.

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