Gatwick Installs Bluetooth Beacons so You Won’t Get Lost in the Airport
Ryan Boyd May 30, 2017
Gatwick Airport (LGW), the UK’s second busiest airport, has installed 2,000 battery-powered bluetooth beacons throughout terminals, making it easier for mobile users to find their location and navigate the indoor space.
The airport is working with UK-based startup Pointr on the system, and will also develop an augmented reality mobile app that will work with the technology to display arrows on your screen in the camera mode that you can follow to your gate. Gatwick would be the first-ever airport to install beacons specifically for augmented reality-based wayfinding, though other airlines and airports like Virgin Atlantic and London Heathrow have used beacon technology in different ways in the past, like sending passengers relevant information about flights based on their location.
Pointr may also work with third parties like retailers in the airport, who could also utilize the technology to push offers on customers when they’re nearby the store, though customers would need to opt-in to receive offers.
[Photo: Pointr]
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The GPS generation is becoming more spatially challenged, anything past the screen needs directions.
Between airport maps online, on airline apps, in seatback magazines, big terminal map kiosks, and most of all the giant signs dangling from the ceiling every 100 feet, I feel like you'd be hard pressed to get lost in an airport. But then again, with the amount of people that meander around airports (and malls, and sidewalks) with their head tilted down and face buried in their phone, maybe they're missing all the maps and signs?