Lumicast Technology for Indoor Location

QUALCOMM, announced that it is working closely with its subsidiary Acuity Brands to commercial deployment of LED lighting services, that use Qualcomm Lumicast technology to bring an indoor positioning capability and services to customers. Unlike RF-based technologies, Lumicast uses existing visible light signals transmitted from LED to deliver indoor positioning. A regular smartphone, which is enabled by Lumicast software application, receives the light signals through the front camera to determine its position and orientation with exceptional precision and speed.

Lumicast has already been working in more than 100 stores across North America. The technology is designed to deliver precise indoor location within few centimeters of accuracy and capability to revolutionize the use cases for navigation, promotions and advertising, and customer service, as well as improve operational quality and efficiencies in environments like malls, retail stores, airports, museums, warehouses, factories, healthcare and educational institutions.

Cormac Conroy, Vice President of Engineering and Product Management in Qualcomm Technologies, said that “Indoor Positioning technology has a capability to change the way we shop, work and move”. “Using Lumicast, consumers can be able to download applications that truly deliver an ultimate indoor location experience”

Lumicast technology consists of a transmitter specification and mobile software from lighting original equipment manufacturers can license from Qualcomm Atheros. By using the transmitter, OEMs can enable Lumicast functionality in their LED driver for LED light fixtures. The mobile software integrates with the application to provide OEMs and venues with the opportunity to develop and offer location services that consumer will find beneficial over a time, cost saving, efficiency, and venues from data and operational efficiencies. The Lumicast mobile software can be integrated on both Android and IOS platform applications.

Steve Lydecker, Vice President, IoT business unit in Acuity Brands, said that “we are very excited about the opportunities that Lumicast technology provides and excited about the response from the retail community in North America and Europe”. This service enables a Bytelight services over a 12 million square feet of retail space, it has made that simpler and easier to get around. In real-time and historic analysis allows the business owner to understand how traffic is better than ever before?

Lumicast technology aims to provide support for Qualcomm’s effort to create an IoT in which billions of devices and machines intelligently connect to the cloud and each other. Any location or venue using LED lighting enabled with Lumicast has the opportunity to deliver precise information helps in navigating, locating things, or being offered items of extreme value to consumer in every possible way. Lumicast is also planning for, advanced use cases such as operational robotics in both automation and inventory management.