Automatic Generation of Guidance for Indoor Navigation at Metro Stations

Abstract

This article delves into the advancements in indoor navigation in metro stations and describes the development and implementation of algorithms for the automatic generation of navigation guidance. The LIFT project at the Warsaw University of Technology serves as a practical example, showcasing a system designed to cater to people with special needs. This article presents a rule-based algorithm that generates navigation directions based on a trade-off between landmark references and spatial references in relation to the user’s location. The research uses a spatial data model consisting of three interconnected layers: the transport network, the room topology, and the building topography. The algorithm uses these data in subsequent stages. A defined set of rules generates redundant navigation directions for all potential decision points and then, subsequent rules filter and generalise them. To discuss the details of how the algorithm works, an example route is described in this study and the consequences of applying the selected rules are analysed. Next, a few problems that arose during the testing of the algorithm at Warsaw Metro stations are presented with proposed solutions. The results of the study made it possible to develop a mobile application, which is planned to be available to users by the end of 2024.

Keywords

• indoor navigation
• indoor guidance
• landmarks
• turn-by-turn directions
• people with special needs
• metro