Performance Evaluation of Wearable Internet of Things Devices for Indoor Positioning

Indoor localization and tracking services are necessary for several popular applications from asset monitoring to location-based marketing. The use of Internet of Things (IoT) devices in those services has increased due to their low cost and ease of deployment. However, indoor services pose significant challenges due to the lack of GPS signals as well as the complexity of the indoor environment. Alternative approaches, mainly including wireless technologies, should be considered. In this work, we examine the feasibility of using wearable IoT devices for indoor tracking. Specifically, we use smartwatches and we examine the performance of $\mathrm{Wi}-\mathrm{Fi}$ and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) for indoor tracking. According to experimental results, BLE outperformed $\mathbf{W i - F i}$ in terms of energy efficiency while Wi-Fi, on the other hand, demonstrated a slightly better accuracy in Line of Sight conditions.