Sunday, February 17, 2008

Novel location-based services

This article discusses a range of 'novel technologies and end-to-end solutions for indoor and outdoor geo-location scenarios' such as needed for emergency services and taxi firms. Lots of innovation and development underway in Europe at the moment:

It's late on Saturday night. Hundreds of revellers empty out of the bars and restaurants in town and call for cabs to get home. But can the taxi firm meet such a sudden demand?

Amazingly, taxis turn up at the stand within minutes, as if they have all been waiting just around the corner. In actual fact, they have been using one of the most recent applications of geographic positioning technology, known as location based services (LBS).

Once a request for a cab comes through to the control room, the LBS platform notifies vehicles that ‘best fit’ the booking request, based on criteria such as proximity to the pick-up point, customer preferences, or dispatcher policies. Such geographic targeting helps cabs use less fuel and reach their customers faster. The Taxi-on-Demand system is just one LBS solution developed by the EU-funded LIAISON project


Read more - 'Taxi! Novel location-based services hailed'
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