Indoor navigation using QR codes and WiFi signals with an implementation on mobile platform

In this paper we demonstrate how to extend an indoor personal navigation system based upon fusing pedestrian dead reckoning data and WiFi fingerprints by using simple, unobtrusive visual landmarks perceived by the user's smartphone camera. The proposed navigation system employs a factor graph to represent the localization constraints stemming from measurements obtained using the sensors available in a mobile device. The novelty of this work lies in integration of the constraints imposed by opportunistic observations of simple landmarks based on QR codes in the graph-based formulation of the localization problem. The experiments concern feasibility of detecting and reading QR codes under real-life conditions, and the accuracy of user position estimation. The experimental results confirm that QR codes can provide valuable localization information in real-time, especially when the site lacks a rich landscape of WiFi signals.

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