An Indoor Navigation and Localization System

This paper introduces a mobile navigation and localization system suitable to guide visitors in environments indoors without GPS help. This guidance is especially useful in large multilevel structures such as hospitals, shopping malls, airports, and can be beneficial for people with special needs. The system is implemented on smart phone platforms equipped with several embedded sensors. The proposed localization technique is based on a combination of (a) Wi-Fi signal strength capturing from pre-built sample area points and (b) a pedestrian step and stride identification using embedded sensory data. The method has been implemented and tested in a large hospital building.