Antti Rainio
VTT Information Technology
P.O.Box 1203, FIN-02044 VTT, FINLAND
Antti.Rainio@vtt.fi
The national spearhead programme "Personal Navigation" has been proposed by the National Fund for Research and Development in Finland, Sitra, as a one of seven national spearhead programmes and development networks in the revised information society strategy "Quality of life, knowledge and competitiveness" (Sitra206, http://www.sitra.fi/tietoyhteiskunta/strategy).
The national spearhead programme should be seen as an extensive programme which aims to build a network of both existing and new projects. The spearhead programme can include projects on research and development of technology and products, education as well as practical pilot projects for developing businesses and processes. Some parts might be organised and financed by open calls for projects. The spearhead programme aims at the diffusion of new services and methods of work as well as new products for the export market. New business opportunities are expected and competition should be supported. A suitable period to expect some concrete results might be three to four years.
Personal Navigation. The spearhead programme aims at developing an entity of services for personal navigation which supports all forms of mobility and which will be implemented gradually as the terminal hardware and data transfer technology develop. Necessary services relating to traffic and transportation, such as maps, addresses, routes, prices and timetables, and different services relating to transactions and trade must be implemented on open technical interfaces based on tenders. At the same time, the transfer of location data must be developed with a view to emergency situations.
The applications based on positioning are also included in the EU's Fifth Framework Programme for Research and Development (http://www.cordis.lu/ist/) as well as in the recent technology programme "New User-Oriented Information Technology" (USIX) launch by the Technology Development Centre, Tekes (http://www.tekes.fi/eng/technology/). In Finland this theme is tackled in a few existing research projects and in the TETRA programme managed by the Ministry of Traffic and Communication concerning telematics in traffic (http://www.vtt.fi/yki/tetrae/tetraabs.htm).
The cellular phone primarily serves people when they are on the move. Travelling creates many needs for information on, for instance, the destination, the route, the real-time position, possible traffic jams, services on the way and in the vicinity, etc. Many beneficial services can be offered based on satellite positioning or by other means, wireless data transfer, different service databases, electronic maps and geographic information.
The global positioning system (GPS) is based on a microprocessor which can be built into a cellular phone. The cellular phone network as such can offer new possibilities to locate the user. Many personal navigation services can be implemented on the basis of GPRS (general packet radio system) data transfer and WAP-phones (wireless application protocol) and services. The next-generation mobile phone will function as a terminal supporting multimedia and including a graphical user interface and map interface. Electronic maps and other geographic information are available and can be transferred to applications through servers. The management and delivery of information describing service points and local events of different kinds poses a great challenge.
The international navigation market is growing rapidly, supported by increasing research and development (e.g. GPS Block 2 F and European Galileo). Car navigation is becoming a mature consumer product and one can expect navigation applications to develop in the same way as when mobile phones became "personal phones". In particular, in-door positioning is a new challenge.
In the Personal Navigation spearhead programme a service concept based on mobile phones and positioning technologies will be developed. Information supporting positioning, moving and accessing service points will be served increasingly in the future by means of multimedia.
The target of the spearhead programme is to develop technical solutions and service concepts and also to implement personal navigation services consisting of a user terminal as well as data transfer, positioning and information services. Implementation will require significant R&D and infrastructure investments by both the public and private sectors. The spearhead programme will take a few years to complete and will involve the participation of many partners in a number joint and separate projects.
The range of services will support all modes of transport (walking, cycling, driving by car, taxi, bus, train, boat, ferry, aeroplane etc.) and will be implemented in stages as the technologies develop (see figure). The services can include traffic and travelling services (e.g. maps, addresses, routes, timetables, weather forecasts, hotels, restaurants) as well as descriptions of whatever public and private-sector services are to be located. In-door positioning could facilitate guidance services for different objects and products e.g. in museums and exhibitions. Sending the position of the client in connection with service orders (e.g. taxi) or emergency phone-calls can be developed as an application area. The user might need to send information about his/her position to the home, to the workplace, or to friends.
A central issue is that the services to be developed should be scalable, which will mean independence of the terminal so that the services can be accessed by mobile phones and by conventional PCs. From the outset the development of the services must follow and pay attention to the privacy laws and other ethical issues as well as any necessary agreements.
The personal navigation services should be implemented on the basis of an open service platform and open interfaces, which will allow and encourage competition. Terminals supporting both in-door and out-door positioning and the whole service chain can be tested in the pilots of the spearhead programme. In the future, positioning and navigation together with electronic transactions and commerce will probably affect the logistic systems, too. The spearhead programme will also endeavour to support national transport policy goals and development projects.
The planning project of the spearhead programme has the following targets:
I Needs for the personal navigation services and technological solutions
II Promoting compatibility and competition in personal navigation services
III Facing the challenge of global competition
VI Creating the spearhead programme
V Creating the development network
The management board consists of representatives of the financing partners and those research units which have made acceptable proposals for co-operation. The management board can accept new partners.
The project is financed by Sitra, Tekes, VTT and the organisations listed below.
Enterprises: Arcus software, Alma media/Net Ventures, Benefon, Digita, Talentum/Satama Interactive, Karttakeskus, Nokia Mobile Phones, Novo Meridian, Radiolinja, Sanoma-Wsoy/Geodata, Sonera, Suunto and Tekla.
Authorities: Ministry of Traffic and Communication, Ministry of the Interior, National Board of Survey, National Board of Navigation, National Road Authority, Population Register Centre
Research units offering co-operation: the University of Oulu, the University of Tampere, Tampere University of Technology, Helsinki University of Technology, VTT Automation, VTT Electronics and VTT Communities and infrastructure.
In order to understand better the circumstances and possibilities, four working groups have been established:
http://www.vtt.fi/tte/samba/projects/navigointi/navigointi.html
Project Director Antti Rainio
VTT Information Technology
P.O.Box 1203, FIN-02044 VTT
Tel. +358 9 456 4541 Mobile: +358 40 759 0553 Email: Antti.Rainio@vtt.fi