Introduction - Ubiquitous Positioning - page 5

1.3.2 Motivation, Business, and Applications
Chapters 3, 4, and 5 concern the motivation for Whereness and are aimed at
providing a commercial view of why anyone would want to pay for it. Chapter 3
takes a broad view of all the commercially important issues, discussing Whereness
within the digital networked economy. Chapter 4 focuses on specific applications
relevant to current businesses, which are grouped into two parts. First, there are
applications that are relevant to intelligent transportation systems (ITS), often
referred to as transport telematics (or just telematics) and second, those relevant to
more general location-based services (LBS).
Chapter 5 is more futuristic and starts with a discussion of societal changes
and the important part Whereness could have in the future. A number of potential
important new application areas are discussed including reference to climate
change and its possible consequences.
1.3.3 Technologies of Whereness
The following chapters are more technical and concentrate on the technology
building blocks that are needed for Whereness. Chapters 6 and 7 cover all the
important methods that can be used to find position physically. Chapter 6 is
concerned with radio technology, covering topics such as global navigational
satellite systems (GNSS), which includes GPS, cellular radio, WiFi, and Radio
Frequency Identification (RFID). Chapter 7 covers the nonradio techniques to find
position. Some of these are wireless, such as optical and ultrasonic systems, and
others are mechanical, including mobile inertial systems and active flooring.
Chapter 8 is where Web 2.0 is discussed in detail and is about maps,
mapping, and geographic information systems (GIS). This chapter is the most
exciting in terms of change and impact, but is consequently likely to be the one
that becomes out of date first. A review of current Web 2.0 Whereness players is
given.
1.3.4 Whereness and the Future
The concluding chapter continues with technology but it concerns the future and
has a strong research flavor. First, the future of radio and its spectrum is discussed
along with other sensing methods. Second, a standardized framework for
information concerning ubiquitous positioning is proposed using Semantic Web 2
methodologies. Finally, ideas from mobile robotic research are discussed, where
people (instead of robot vehicles) can automatically build maps and maintain
maps wherever they go.
2 The Semantic Web is a movement in computer science and machine learning. It is seeking to
structure and standardize information on the Web, so that both people and machines may use it more
effectively.