iBeacon, Eddystone, Bluetooth, IoT sensor beacons, apps, platforms
We now have the Minew S4 door window sensor in stock.
This is a door or window open/closed sensor with a tamper alarm. It stores up to 2048 records readable with included app. The Bluetooth advertising includes the battery level, magnet detection status, anti-tamper status and the MAC address.
We have the new Minew MSL01 water leak sensor in stock.
The two probes are positioned vertically where there’s the possibility of a water leak. Special Bluetooth advertising is sent every second, by default, indicating whether there is a water leak or not, together with the battery level. There’s also an external on-off switch on the back.
The advertising can be picked up by a gateway or detected by scanning for Bluetooth on iOS and Android. The replaceable battery lasts up to 5 years at the default Bluetooth advertising frequency.
The convergence of Bluetooth beacons and augmented reality (AR) is creating exciting opportunities for enhancing user experiences. This synergy offers a new dimension in various industries, from retail and marketing to education and entertainment, by blending the digital and physical worlds.
Bluetooth beacons, small wireless devices that transmit signals using Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), have been instrumental in location-based services. They are adept at providing contextual information to mobile devices based on proximity. In a retail store, for instance, beacons can trigger notifications about special deals when a customer is near a particular product.
Augmented reality takes this concept a step further by adding a visual, interactive layer to the information. AR can overlay digital content, such as images, videos, or 3D models, onto the real-world environment, as seen through the lens of a smartphone or AR glasses. This combination turns static information into an engaging, immersive experience.
Imagine walking into a store and, as you approach a product, an AR display pops up on your phone, showing how the product works, customer reviews, and even how it might look in your home. Beacons can trigger these AR experiences, making shopping interactive, informative, and fun.
In educational settings, such as museums or historical sites, for example the Cutty Sark, this technology can bring history to life. As visitors move around, beacons can activate AR displays that reconstruct historical scenes, provide in-depth information about artifact, or offer interactive learning experiences. This makes education more engaging and memorable.
The gaming industry is also capitalising on this synergy. Location-based AR games, powered by beacons, create immersive gaming environments in physical spaces. Players can interact with virtual objects and characters overlaid onto the real world, enhancing the thrill and engagement of the game.
Future advancements may include more sophisticated AR visuals, greater accuracy in beacon technology, and perhaps even integration with other emerging technologies like 5G and AI. This could lead to more personalised and contextually relevant AR experiences, further blurring the lines between the digital and physical worlds.
We now stock the MG5 Outdoor Mobile LTE Gateway.
This is a waterproof (IP68) gateway that detects Bluetooth devices and sends this information via cellular LTE-M or NB-IoT. It also includes internal GPS, accelerometer and temperature sensors.
It’s now possible to have standalone sensing in remote places such as farms, production facilities or even war zones. All you need is a power supply in the range 8v-52v. The sensors can be any Bluetooth sensor beacons, not just Minew devices. Alternatively, the gateway can be installed on movable items such as a vehicle or trailer where the GPS can provide the latest location. This opens up a large number of usecases.
The traditional museum experience is undergoing a remarkable transformation. Central to this change is the integration of Bluetooth technology, particularly through the use of Bluetooth beacons. These small, wireless devices are redefining visitor interactions, creating more immersive, informative, and personalised experiences.
One of the most significant advantages of Bluetooth beacons is the ability to use them with apps to offer personalised tours. As visitors move through a museum, beacons located near exhibits can send information directly to their smartphones or provided devices. This can tailor content to individual preferences, past viewing history, or even language, making the museum tour more engaging and accessible for everyone.
Imagine standing before an ancient artifact and receiving not just text-based information, but an interactive story that takes you back in time. Bluetooth beacons make this possible. By triggering audio narratives, augmented reality experiences, or video content as visitors approach, they bring a dynamic and vivid dimension to the exhibits, far beyond what traditional static displays offer.
Educational outreach is a core mission for many museums. Bluetooth beacons can enhance learning by providing additional layers of information, interactive quizzes and scavenger hunts for younger visitors. This interactive form of learning is not only more engaging but also helps in retaining information and sparking a deeper interest in the subject matter.
Museums can be overwhelming, especially when they are crowded. Bluetooth technology can help manage the flow of visitors by providing real-time data on crowded areas. This information can be used to suggest alternative routes to visitors, ensuring a smoother and more enjoyable visit. It also helps museum staff to better manage and distribute the crowd, enhancing the overall visitor experience.
Accessibility is a crucial aspect of modern museums. Bluetooth beacons can provide visually impaired visitors with audio descriptions, guiding them through the museum and describing exhibits in detail. This level of accessibility ensures that museums are a place of learning and inspiration for everyone.
For museum administrators, Bluetooth beacons are a goldmine of visitor data. They can track which exhibits attract the most attention, average dwell times and visitor flow patterns. This data is invaluable for making informed decisions about exhibit placement, marketing strategies and future exhibit planning.
Bluetooth beacons are low-energy devices, making them an environmentally friendly and cost-effective option for museums. Their low power consumption means they can run for years on a single battery, reducing maintenance costs and their environmental footprint.
The integration of Bluetooth technology in museums is a significant leap towards making art, culture, and history more accessible and engaging in the digital age. Bluetooth beacons are playing a crucial role in this transformation, offering personalised, immersive and accessible experiences to every visitor.
New research “Hybrid-AI-Based iBeacon Indoor Positioning Cybersecurity: Attacks and Defenses” by Wei-Tzu Hung, focuses on the cybersecurity aspects of iBeacon systems, particularly in the context of indoor positioning and navigation. iBeacon is increasingly used in very large and important public spaces for indoor navigation, using the Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) in mobile phones. However, the security of these systems is sometimes a concern, especially against cyberattacks.
The study uses the iBeacon system at Taipei Main Station, a major transportation hub, as a case study. This station experiences a high daily traffic flow, making it a critical area for such technology. The research explores potential attacks on the iBeacon system and investigates defence technologies, incorporating AI techniques and human participation.
The study looks into various aspects of iBeacon technology, including its mechanisms, related work in the field and specific challenges in information security. It also discusses the design of the iBeacon system at Taipei Main Station, potential attacks by hackers and methods to defend against these attacks.
The paper concludes with insights into future studies in this area. Key findings include the necessity of incorporating information security technology and rolling coding encryption in the early stages of iBeacon system planning. These methods are currently the best defence strategies. The research suggests that rolling coding is the most cost-effective defence, but for critical infrastructure, a more secure method, such as predictable and encrypted rolling coding, can be used.
Nordic Semiconductor, the manufacturer of the System on a Chip (SoC) in most beacons, has published the latest online issue of Wireless Quarter Magazine. It showcases the many uses of Nordic SoCs.
The latest issue of the magazine highlights the use of the same Nordic SoCs in the following Bluetooth solutions:
There’s an in-depth article on the ‘The Internet of Medical Things’ explaining how this will transform healthcare. An article on ‘Building the Clean Dream’ describes how IoT is promising cities a smarter way to manage the growing challenges of waste and pollution. A feature on ‘Safety First’ shows how the safety industry is using wireless solutions to protect us in our homes, at work and while we play.
A MAC (Media Access Control) address is a hardware identification number that uniquely identifies each device. In the context of Bluetooth, a MAC address is used to identify a specific Bluetooth device, such as a smartphone, headset or a Bluetooth beacon. All beacons transmit a Bluetooth MAC Address which is a 48-bit address usually represented in hexadecimal format like this: 0123456789AB.
All devices such as smartphones can see the incoming MAC addresses that are sent as part of the device discovery stage rather than the main Bluetooth LE advertising payload. iOS is a bit strange and non-standard because it hides detected Bluetooth MAC address from apps, and hence from users, when detecting beacons and other Bluetooth devices.
No such restriction happens on Android or any other device. The rationale is probably that Apple wants you to use their ids, the iBeacon UUID, major and minor or the Peripheral Id rather than the MAC address. Apple also probably think they are protecting privacy in some way. A few beacons and other devices such as sensors and fitness trackers additionally put the MAC address into the advertising payload which circumvents Apple’s restrictions and allows reading of the MAC address by apps.
Researchers from Spain have recently developed a safety system that uses Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) to ensure the correct use of Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) on construction sites. This innovative system is not only robust and reliable but also easily adaptable to various dangerous machines.
The system is built on RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indicator) information transmitted by BLE devices arranged in a particular rig combined with a Bayesian distance estimator. The aim is not merely to signal risky situations caused by the misuse of PPE but to intervene swiftly and robustly to eliminate the safety risk.
The researchers have built upon previous results on the statistically sound measurement of distances and closeness in construction sites. By collocating several BLE transmitters near orthogonally, they have managed to reduce interferences while avoiding the cost of more advanced technologies.
The practical contributions of this research include the design of the system, a working prototype and a thorough statistical analysis for finding the optimal parameters for both the software and the equipment. The research shows that using several orthogonally collocated BLE transmitters improves robustness and overall performance without requiring more complex and costly equipment.
The improvements are most significant as the number of transmitters increases. Using a diversity of devices is better when these devices are noisy and it also enhances the robustness of the solution. An arrangement of orthogonal BLE beacons allows for an increased rate of advertising messages, and an extended Kalman filter plus a discrete filter can benefit from that increased flow of data, providing a simple and efficient approximation to the problem of safety estimation.
The use of an additional beacon to notify the correct use of the PPE, implemented inside a wearable microcontroller, is a very flexible solution. It allows for different local implementations using various sensors and measurements without the need to modify the RSSI-only method in the receiver, and with any number of users. The system can be easily integrated into a wide variety of dangerous machines and tools such as angle grinders, concrete mixers and pneumatic drills.
VMware Workspace ONE UEM (Unified Endpoint Management) is a comprehensive solution designed to manage and secure endpoints in an enterprise environment. It’s part of the broader VMware Workspace ONE platform, which offers a suite of tools for digital workspace services.
Workspace ONE UEM provides IT administrators with the ability to manage a wide range of devices, including smartphones, tablets, laptops, and desktops, across various operating systems like iOS, Android, Windows and macOS. The goal is to streamline the process of deploying, securing, and managing these devices, ensuring that they are compliant with company policies and that corporate data remains protected.
Apple iBeacon, integrated with Workspace ONE Intelligent Hub v5.1+, enhances location awareness for devices using Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE). BLE offers efficient device tracking without draining battery life and is more precise than geofencing. iBeacons can monitor multiple regions at once, ensuring privacy as devices are tracked only upon entering or exiting specific areas.
To utilise this, set up a third-party iBeacon, configure it in the UEM console, establish iBeacon regions and then push device profiles with iBeacon capabilities. This allows the Workspace ONE Intelligent Hub to detect when devices enter these regions and log any changes in iBeacon ranges.