Providing group tour guide by RFIDs and wireless sensor networks

Abstract

This paper proposes a new application framework for group tour guiding services based on RFIDs and wireless sensor networks. We consider a sensing field mixed with multiple independent tourist groups, each with a leader and several members. Members of a group will follow the moving path of their leader, but may occasionally roam around randomly on their own interests. Sensor nodes have to track leaders' locations and maintain guiding paths from members to leaders. A member may inquire where his/her leader is, and a leader may "recall" his/her members. We propose a feasible solution to such an application by using existing technologies and off-the-shelf components. A group guiding protocol is presented. The design enables reliable group guiding at low cost and low traffic load. Our prototyping system is reported and system performance is discussed.