The Role of Wi-Fi Positioning Systems in Safety Against COVID-19

Internet of things (IoT) has brought attention in the field of Indoor Positioning Systems (IPS). The advancement of technology with the rise of new smart devices has triggered those technologies to flourish in the last few years. The Received Signal Strength Identificator (RSSI) measurements can be utilized in a business environment where multiple access points (APs) are installed in order to provide Location Based Marketing and indoor navigation services. Such places include shopping malls, train stations, airports, stadiums and many more. The rise of COVID-19 has brought many changes in consumers’ life such as the mandatory use of face masks for indoor environments and keeping a distance of 2 m at least from each other. IPS have assisted end-users of Location Based Services (LBS) with alerts and with the automation of contact tracing in case of infection since the recent pandemic. We have utilized a Wi-Fi Positioning System (WPS) dataset from Waldo Library of Western Michigan University and implemented statistical analysis to find ways to increase the accuracy of WPS in order to assess its suitability for indoor location-based services and protection against Covid-19. The results displayed an 81.5% improvement on the accuracy of the WPS. Since WPS can provide 1–5 m accuracy depending on the environmental conditions these results reveal the appropriateness of these techniques for developing safe distance indoor systems that will support both business and safety services and provide safety for population in indoor environments.