In May, BD+C's blog partner, CASE, covered the rise of indoor positioning technology, and identified architectural applications for beacon technology.
BLE (Bluetooth low energy) beacons are small battery-powered devices that connect with tablets and phones that are in the immediate vicinity. This can enable businesses and other entities to send messages to users based on where they are in a certain space. Apple released the iBeacon in 2013, and the iOS8 update last summer made the innovation even stronger.
Mashable reports that Google will challenge Apple in this realm: The company unveiled Eddystone, a new BLE beacon format, along with tools that will let developers create apps along with the service. Google named the beacon after the Eddy Lighthouse in England, and the company has drawn the parallels between new beacon technology and classic guiding lighthouses.
Unlike iBeacon, which is only compatible with iDevices, Eddystone is cross-platform and discoverable by any Bluetooth smart device. It is open-source so any beacon manufacturer can make hardware compatible with it.
Though beacons usually broadcast information publicly, Eddystone has the option to communicate privately as well. The privacy feature, called Ephemeral Identifiers (EIDs), lets users track their luggage while traveling and find their keys, for instance.
For developers, Google released two new APIs. The Nearby API connects apps with other close devices and beacons; for example, users at an art museum can receive additional facts about a piece or display over their phones. The Proximity Beacon API allows developers to associate semantic location with beacons and store it in the cloud.
Eddystone is available on GitHub under the Apache v2.0 license. Google says Eddystone can be installed with a firmware update.
Related Stories
Sponsored | BIM and Information Technology | Jun 13, 2017
Project information management for dummies
| Jun 13, 2017
Accelerate Live! talk: Is the road to the future the path of least resistance? Sasha Reed, Bluebeam (sponsored)
Bluebeam’s Sasha Reed discusses why AEC leaders should give their teams permission to responsibly break things and create ecosystems of people, process, and technology.
| Jun 13, 2017
Accelerate Live! talk: Incubating innovation through R&D and product development, Jonatan Schumacher, Thornton Tomasetti
Thornton Tomasetti’s Jonatan Schumacher presents the firm’s business model for developing, incubating, and delivering cutting-edge tools and solutions for the firm, and the greater AEC market.
| Jun 13, 2017
Accelerate Live! talk: The future of computational design, Ben Juckes, Yazdani Studio of CannonDesign
Yazdani’s Ben Juckes discusses the firm’s tech-centric culture, where scripting has become an every-project occurrence and each designer regularly works with computational tools as part of their basic toolset.
| May 24, 2017
Accelerate Live! talk: Applying machine learning to building design, Daniel Davis, WeWork
Daniel Davis offers a glimpse into the world at WeWork, and how his team is rethinking workplace design with the help of machine learning tools.
| May 24, 2017
Accelerate Live! talk: Learning from Silicon Valley - Using SaaS to automate AEC, Sean Parham, Aditazz
Sean Parham shares how Aditazz is shaking up the traditional design and construction approaches by applying lessons from the tech world.
| May 24, 2017
Accelerate Live! talk: The data-driven future for AEC, Nathan Miller, Proving Ground
In this 15-minute talk at BD+C’s Accelerate Live! (May 11, 2017, Chicago), Nathan Miller presents his vision of a data-driven future for the business of design.
Big Data | May 24, 2017
Data literacy: Your data-driven advantage starts with your people
All too often, the narrative of what it takes to be ‘data-driven’ focuses on methods for collecting, synthesizing, and visualizing data.
AEC Tech | May 23, 2017
A funny thing may happen on the way to AI
As AI proves safe, big business will want to reduce overhead.
Building Technology | May 5, 2017
Tips for designing and building with bathroom pods
Advancements in building technology and ongoing concerns about labor shortages make prefabrication options such as bathrooms pods primed for an awakening.
