W. Narzt: Personal Mobile Public Transportation Guidance Based on Virtual Geo-Sensors, 19th World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems in Vienna, Austria, October 22-26, 2012, Ertico:id=9527.
A virtual Geo-Sensor is an active software component represented by geo coordinates and an interaction radius, which automatically recognizes the positions of mobile devices and triggers electronically controlled actions (e.g. opening gates, starting or stopping engines, etc.) when an appropriate privileged device reaches spatial proximity to its coordinates without burdening its users with pressing buttons or glimpsing at a display. This basic concept can be adopted for supporting travelers on their individual travel routes using public transportation even across transportation companies. At every transport nodal point, a virtual Geo-Sensor recognizes the arrival of travelers by their mobile phones and automatically checks for connecting transportation options due to their personal route and triggers re-planning on delays such that the mobile phone appears as an intelligent companion throughout the journey. If, in addition, every user is given the opportunity to place virtual Geo-Sensors, such a transportation guide utilizes user-generated location-bound content for other travelers in order to enrich navigation in a self-organizing way, e.g., for more appropriate instructions for handicapped people (blind people guide blind people). This paper outlines the fundamental concepts and the architecture of virtual Geo-Sensors and gives an impression on its potentials for a personal, mobile, public transportation guide.