While most smartphones today have a GPS function to help users find their locations, it's easily affected by weak signals - especially indoors or, worse, in an underground parking lot.
This episode of China Startup will take you to the Chinese company Shitu, which successfully developed a unique magnetic positioning technology to solve that problem.
Business incubator
「An old horse can find the way」 is a traditional Chinese idiom – it means that experienced people can always figure out directions. Today, things have certainly changed as the world grows larger and more complicated. But GPS technology can take us to almost every corner of the world without a map.
There's a problem, though, when there's no GPS signal, especially indoors or underground – and that's where Shitu comes in to help.
Shitu, also listed as Ubirouting, considers itself more of a team than a tech company. Founded by mobile network researcher Huang Qin in 2013, the four-man startup moved from a rented apartment to a business incubator at the Peking University Science Park just a few weeks ago. Many angel investors have so far shown keen interest in Shitu.
「People stay indoors almost 80% of time, but there are no indoor location-based services available until now - we don't think that's reasonable,」 Huang said.
As CCTV toured the incubator, Huang walked around the office with his smartphone in his hand, collecting data and testing a new product – a geomagnetic positioning system that allowed him to map desks.
Indoor positioning technologies
There are multiple indoor positioning technologies that exist already, but they more or less fall into two categories: wi-fi and Bluetooth-based.
The most popular existing software is the wi-fi-based system (WPS). The technology uses wireless access points and is only as effective as the intensity of the received signals. Like GPS, this technique is impossible if the area is not covered by wi-fi.
A more recent alternative to the wi-fi-based system – and also quite promising – is the Bluetooth-based system. Like its name implies, it uses Bluetooth signals to provide an indoor proximity solution.
The two popular models, however, rely on wireless infrastructures within a building – which aren't always there.
With a completely different approach, Shitu is using magnetism positioning – and it's relatively new to the scene. It cleverly uses the earth's magnetism, and it doesn't require the installation of wireless signal emitters.
Growing pressures
Although Shitu's team successfully developed the core technology by themselves, there are still many obstacles standing in front of them.
The potential for indoor positioning systems is quickly growing thin. Global tech giants such as Google, Apple, and Microsoft are already competing for a market share.
Also, a Finnish startup called Indoor Atlas, the current industry leader in magnetism positioning, received a $10 million investment from tech giant Baidu, China's largest search engine company, to enhance Baidu Map's indoor navigation capacity.
「We believe that our technology is more advanced (than Indoor Atlas) and can achieve better performance,」 said Huang.
Shitu is still a small startup with only four employees. With all members from a technology background, it is struggling to build up more of a team.
「We face more challenges not only in products, but also in management,」 Huang said.「But we know where our core competence is.」