The great indoors (UPDATE: New video)

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UPDATE: We’ve just got hold of the video showcasing the latest phase of the indoor positioning trial at the Kamppi shopping center in Helsinki, Finland. Click through to watch Christian Del Rosso from the Nokia Research Center walk you through what’s going on.
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HELSINKI, Finland – Indoor positioning, and the contextual services that can be strapped to it, is something that has gripped our attention since word of this innovative development broke outside the walls of the Nokia Research Center back in April 2008 (read our very first story to mention indoor positioning). Since then the buzz around indoor positioning has increased (aided by the excitement around technologies such as the Nokia Locate Sensor), and has recently galvanized through live real-world trials – the latest being the second phase of a trial that’s currently taking place at the Kamppi Shopping Center in Helsinki, Finland.

Read on to find out more about what’s going on with Nokia’s indoor positioning research and development after the break.

The trial at the Kamppi Shopping Center in Helsinki kicked off earlier this year in March, and saw shoppers armed with the ability to explore indoor maps, get discount vouchers and bite-size chunks of info served to them directly through their Nokia phones.

This new phase of the trial sees more services heaped onto the indoor positioning platter. These additions to the trial will enable shoppers to keep track where they are at any time in the shopping center, as well as hone in on wherever it is they need to go. Plus, sharing has been thrown into the mix, meaning that should you want to share your location with anyone – say, if you’re family is having a coffee and you want them to come and find you easily – you can share your position via a simple integrated SMS feature.

If you happen the be based in Helsinki and fancy trying it out, you can get access to the indoor positioning service on your S60 web savvy handset by visiting http://kamppi.nokia.mobi.

Christian Prehofer is Senior Manager and Research Project Leader at the Nokia Research Center, and had this to say about the indoor positioning trial:

“The results from the trial so far have been extremely positive; since March the indoor maps, vouchers and information service attracted over 30,000 hits and had more than 6,500 unique users. With the launch of mobile indoor positioning we are not only conducting a unique large scale experiment but aim to demonstrate the capability and potential uses for indoor positioning services, as well as bringing consumers a different and exciting experience. Kamppi Shopping Center provides us with an excellent place to test this”

Watch the video showcasing the indoor positioning trial here >>

What do you think? Is this sort of indoor positioning service with contextual info an exciting prospect, and do you think you’d use it? Share your opinions in the comments section below.

Related posts:

• Nokia Locate Sensor video and trials
• Indoor positioning and more info on Nokia Locate Sensor
• Nokia Image Space update and video

Tags | indoor positioning, Nokia Locate Sensor, Nokia Research Center, NRC, Trial