52 June 2013 www.bahrainthismonth.com Often, locating something or someone within a large enclosed space, be it a mall, a warehouse or an airport, can be an exhausting exercise. Local positioning is an area that Mohamed Elkanzi and his partners have been working on for a few years and the team has come up with a real-time location system (RTLS) that works on Wi-Fi technology. “Wireless RTLS tags are either worn by people or attached to items that need to be tracked. The reference points, which are spaced throughout a building, receive wireless signals from these tags to determine their location. The tracking is real time, with 90 per cent accuracy within a 10-15 centimeter range,” explains Mohamed, co-founder Artealus. Through the mobile application developed by the team, users can load an indoor location map on their mobile phone or handheld Wi-Fi device. This pinpoints the user’s location and the position of other app users or tags that happen to be within the same building. In order to use the application within their establishment, enterprises will need to integrate their database into the location system, which then enables them to track down any inventory or personnel within their premises with the aid of Wi-Fi hotspots. “The uses for a tracking device in an indoor space can be diverse. This ranges from hospitals trying to locate patients, nurses or equipment, mall visitors hunting for very specific merchandise, or workers looking for a tool cart in a warehouse,” he says. Mohamed is quick to underplay the privacy concerns that such a surveillance system could raise, arguing that the device can be tailored, depending on how closely an enterprise wants the locations to be pinpointed. “Human tracking is entirely voluntary. You don’t wear a tag unless you want to be tracked. Moreover, users who download this application on their mobile will have the option to tweak their privacy settings if they want to remain invisible to others users of the app,” he says. Artealus co-founder Hussain Al Alqami feels a tracking device will work well for children in malls, where app users could keep track of them through the tags the kids wear on their wrist. A tracking system, when deployed in a retail set-up, could be of immense benefit to businesses in personalising their marketing strategies and plans. Retailers who sign up for the service will benefit from a statistical analysis of footfalls at their stores and even be able to determine the ‘blind spots’ in a shopping mall. “Through an analysis of the window shopping behaviour of customers, retailers can take steps to influence them,” says Hussain. The team is now finalising the application and demonstrations will be made for clients from this month. The team believes Bahrain is the perfect laboratory to test their device before they approach bigger clients in the region, including airports, malls and hospitals in Dubai and Qatar. Simi Kamboj Navigating our way outdoors with GPS technology is a cakewalk, but challenges arise when we need a tracking system that works accurately in an indoor setting. businessentrepreneur xxxxx Through an analysis of the window shopping behaviour of customers, retailers can take steps to influence them Are You Being Watched? Mohamed Elkanzi and Hussain Al Alqami
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