A location-based personal task reminder for mobile users

Personal task reminders have been indispens- able for modern people, in order to remind them of their tasks at specific circumstances. Traditional paper-based reminders are still useful, but they cannot be organized efficiently. Electronic reminders based on the calendar in cell phones are more efficient and gaining popularity, but such reminders are mostly triggered by time. In many sit- uations, tasks are only meaningful to be performed at a specific location, so it would be useful if reminders for those tasks can be triggered only when the person to be reminded is physically near or located at that location. Therefore, in this research, we develop a location-based personal task reminder for Android-based smartphones and tablets. To distinguish our work from existing ones that rely solely on the GPS technology, we take advantage of the ubiquity of IEEE 802.11 WLAN infrastructure to compliment the ''blind spots'' of GPS location sensing. Combining the two technologies makes it possible for the personal task reminder to be effective in both indoor and outdoor environments. We also propose two operating models for the personal task reminder to boost the usability of the application. Furthermore, as long as the WLAN infrastructure is available, our work as a foundation of location-based services can easily be extended to be used in many other scenarios, such as guiding in public transpor- tation systems or tourist attractions, location-based learn- ing, and even caring of the Dementia residents.