GNSS quality in pedestrian applications - a developer perspective

Localization is a vital part of mobile applications. However, the quality of predominant GNSS-based localization remains inadequate for high-precision scenarios for mobile users. Based on previous work, we discuss the relevance of GNSS for mobile applications focusing in particular on mobile pedestrians. We present selected pedestrian-oriented application types and derive quality requirements towards GNSS-based positioning technologies. Drawing from our experience, we present current shortcomings of GPS-based positioning. We discuss their impact on application design and outline exemplary strategies of how developers could address these. We argue for an integration of GNSS quality considerations into the design process to enable applications to transparently deal with inaccuracies even for future, more demanding scenarios. Then we can provide innovative pedestrian applications to users on-the-spot, enriching their daily lives.