Beacon Technology

(The Louvre Museum, France - Ching-Fuh Lin)

Beacons are small, wireless transmitters that use low-energy Bluetooth technology to send signals to other smart devices nearby. A Beacon is a small device (approx 3cm x 5cm x 2cm) that constantly sends out radio signals to nearby smartphones and tablets, containing a small amount of data. The signal strength and time between each signal can be configured to give a desired coverage. Mobile apps can listen for the signals being broadcast and, when they hear a relevant signal, can trigger an action on your phone. Note that beacons only operate/talk in one direction (i.e. they can broadcast data but cannot read things off your phone). For the majority of current beacons, the data that they transmit is hard coded and doesn’t change frequently (i.e. set it once when configuring the beacon) and they rely on the device which is listening to do something intelligent with the data – in the future this is likely to start changing.

Beacon devices are at the heart of beacon technology. Most beacons are small computers roughly the size of a standard Wi-Fi router. Part of indoor and outdoor positioning systems and Internet of Things (IoT) networks, beacons use proximity technology to detect human presence nearby and trigger preset actions to deliver informational, contextual, and personalized experiences.

The beacon device itself is incredibly simple. Each device contains a CPU, radio, and batteries, and it works by repeatedly broadcasting out an identifier. This identifier is picked up by your device, usually a mobile, and marks out an important place in your environment.  The identifier is a unique ID number that your smartphone recognizes as unique to the beacon. Once connected, the beacon will carry out whatever function it has been programmed to perform.

Beacons often use small lithium chip batteries or run via connected power like USB plugs. They come in different shapes and colors, may include accelerometers, temperature sensors, or unique add-ons but all of them have one thing in common - they transmit a signal.

[More to come ...]