Barometric phone sensors: More hype than hope!

The inclusion of the barometer sensor in smartphones signaled an opportunity for aiding indoor localization efforts. In this paper, we therefore investigate a possible use of the barometer sensor for detecting vertically oriented activities. We start by showing the accuracies of various commodity me...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: MURALIDHARAN, Kartik, KHAN, Azeem Javed, MISRA, Archan, BALAN, Rajesh Krishna, AGARWAL, Sharad
Format: text
Language:English
Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2014
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Online Access:https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/sis_research/2061
https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/sis_research/article/3060/viewcontent/hotmobile2014_final37.pdf
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Institution: Singapore Management University
Language: English
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Summary:The inclusion of the barometer sensor in smartphones signaled an opportunity for aiding indoor localization efforts. In this paper, we therefore investigate a possible use of the barometer sensor for detecting vertically oriented activities. We start by showing the accuracies of various commodity measurement devices and the challenges they bring forth. We then show how to use the barometer values to build a predictor that can detect floor changes and the mode (elevator, escalator, or stairs) used to change floors with nearly 100% accuracy. We validate these properties with data collected using 3 different measurement devices from 7 different buildings. Our investigation reveals that while the barometer sensor has potential, there is still a lot left to be desired.