IoT for Smart Cities: How Beacons Help in Getting Cities Smart

Out of the 7 billion people of the planet, 3.9 billion lives in urban centres. And this figure is going to be 6.4 billion in 2050. Such massive urbanisation facts can shake anyone. With more than 66% of the world’s population living in cities there will be even more pressure on resources and managing such a city is a nightmare for authority, and here IoT comes into picture. IoT can revolutionize the place that we today call a city. Whether it is traffic management or guiding the tourist the right place or identifying crowded places in real time or even locating the ice cream vendor, IoT can manage it all. The important aspect is connecting more and more people and devices together. That way we can manage and grow along with the population. Mobile application development companies develop apps for IoT that are force multipliers for the technology.

And at the root of all this lies a thing called Beacon.

So what are beacons? and how do they do it? Just hold on to find out.

What are Beacons?

Beacons are small devices that can send or broadcast radio signals that can be detected by any gadget around us. They can also broadcast any relative information that we want them to. Normally using Bluetooth Low Energy, Z-wave or ZigBee transmitting technologies.

These beacons basically act as eyes and ears of the IoT system. They transmit information that is vital for the system to analyse the location and status of the thing on which the respective beacon is deployed. Beacons ability to work in proximity makes them ideal for IoT. How the Concept ofproximity is directed to pave the way for IoT? Note that, beacon and ibeacon are commonly misunderstood. Ibeacon is the Apple version of beacon.

What Beacons are capable of?

Beacons have the capability of recording analytic information as well as display the same. With this power in the house, Beacons can do a lot of stuffs from monitoring water levels to managing dustbins in the city, or any other work you can think of.

Beacons are really helpful in indoor areas where technologies like GPS fails to get the proximity of the objects. This is the arena where beacons are used most. While recording the movement of the person towards or away to the object where beacon is deployed, triggers an action of the user’s choice, such as closing of the lights and fans or switching on the TV.

Where can Beacons be deployed?

·         In retail stores, so as to stabilize contactless payments and check out facilities.

·         On city bus service, to track the exact location of the bus and the time it will take to reach the next stop.

·         In emergency services, beacons help to find exit gates or find the best way for the emergency vehicles to reach the spot.

·         Better transportation service, as better traffic management. Drivers can know the next traffic light is red or green far before reaching the place, hence avoiding traffic accidents.

·         Better energy management can be done through beacons. They can help in creating smart and green buildings.

Present Scenarios

Beacons are not a futuristic or science fiction thing, there are here already and they are changing our lives much swiftly than any other technology. Mobile app development companies also pave the way for better and connected world of today and tomorrow. In fact, retail sector was the first wave of beacons use. At present beacons are deployed in many cities of the world.

In New York, Guggenheim Museum’s Near Me app displays contextual audio, video, and text about nearby art and exhibitions.

In Italy, beacons have helping the visually impaired find the right bus stop.

In Ohio, US, they have a program called Safe City Initiative. And they have deployed 1300 beacons that provide information regarding safety and report hazards.

In Nottingham, the city council has installed solar powered Wi-Fi enabled dustbins that tells the waste management team when to empty the bin. After installing theses bins, they went from emptying the bun six times a day to once in two days.

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