Because of the unreliable effect of satellite navigation indoors, people thought of augmented reality. About 2,000 beacons have been installed at London Gatwick as an augmented reality indoor navigation system.
The reason for this is to allow passengers to quickly find their own boarding gate so that they do not miss flights. Due to the lack of satellite signals, which made Google Maps and Apple Maps ineffective indoors, Gatwick Airport used augmented reality and navigation beacons. Gatwick Airport stated that they are the first airports to use the AR as an airport navigation system, and this technology is more reliable than GPS.
The beacon system offers possibilities for AR path finding tools. With a smartphone camera, a specific route is displayed on the smartphone screen, which can instruct the passenger to go to the security checkpoint, boarding gate or baggage claim area.
London Gatwick Airport is integrating augmented reality technology into its own proprietary applications and is working with other airlines to bring indoor positioning systems and pathfinding tools to their applications. Although personal data will not be collected, this technology will monitor the population density at different airport locations, thereby helping the airport to ease the flow of people and reduce congestion.
Future iterations of the technology may include sending aircraft delay reminders to passengers or sending information to the airline about late-night passengers. In addition, retailers or third parties may also use beacons to detect traffic or provide promotional information.