28.3.2011
iPhone application with innovative technology to guide passengers through Copenhagen Airport

The CPH iPhone application scheduled to be released through Apple’s App Store in the coming weeks will include new, innovative augmented reality technology. Copenhagen Airport is the first airport in the world to incorporate augmented reality in its iPhone application, and the technology can be used as a wayfinder inside the terminals. Many may know the technology from other apps for outdoor use, where mobile phones can be used for orientation purposes.  You can very soon do the same with the CPH iPhone app, which can be used as your wayfinder through the airport.

It should be easy for people to find their way through the airport, as this makes travelling less stressful and gives passengers a more pleasant experience at the airport. The many interviews Copenhagen Airport regularly conducts with passengers show that this is highly appreciated. In order to ensure that passengers feel well-informed, for instance about walking distances to gates, about the way to the nearest coffee shop or about how to book parking at Copenhagen Airport, Copenhagen Airport has now updated the CPH iPhone application originally launched in the summer of 2010.  The application has been submitted for approval by Apple, and it is expected that it will be available in the App Store very soon.  

The app allows you to “scan” the terminals for information using your iPhone camera. The camera will photograph points of interest such as shops, restaurants and gates and tell you your distance to those points and in which direction they are located.

A handy tool
“It is our experience that the better passengers are able to plan their time at the airport, the less stress they feel, and the more comfortable their journey will be. We are pleased to offer this handy tool, and our applications for Android phones as well as iPhones can help passengers find up-to-date information when needed, be it when you are on your way to the airport, or inside the airport. With the innovative augmented reality technology featured in this application, we hope to make it even easier and more fun for passengers to find their way through Copenhagen Airport,” said Christian Poulsen, head of IT at Copenhagen Airports A/S.

Scanning the terminals for points of interest
Copenhagen Airport is the first airport in the world to use augmented reality technology in an iPhone application. A similar function will probably be introduced for the Android version at a later point in time if passengers like the new application. Most people are familiar with GPS positioning with apps such as Google Maps but because GPS signals cannot penetrate concrete structures, this technology does not successfully work inside the terminal buildings. Instead, Copenhagen Airport will now apply the airport’s finely meshed Wi-Fi infrastructure to provide as precise positioning as GPS indoors.

Bee-line information
“The information is accurate down to a few metres, and we will work on getting more exact walking distances in a coming version of the application,” commented Christian Poulsen and continued: “This is a first version of this new technology and we already have many ideas for further development. However, we are launching it now to get an indication from passengers of whether they agree with us that this could be one of the ways of improving wayfinding at the airport”.

Since July, more than 100,000 people have downloaded the iPhone app, which is available in three language versions so far: Danish, English and Swedish.

Wayfinding of the future
Global air transport IT provider SITA worked closely with Copenhagen Airport on the development of this new augmented reality app: 

 “This innovation at Copenhagen Airport is a breakthrough not only for the airport industry but for anybody who wants to develop an augmented reality application that works indoors. Our work with Copenhagen Airport is a major step into wayfinding of the future when passengers use augmented reality and not just physical signs to find their way. This is also a unique opportunity to provide better service to passengers at airports – initially at Copenhagen Airport, which is the first airport in the world to use this emerging technology," said Jim Peters, SITA Chief Technology Officer who heads up the SITA Lab.

The augmented reality function has been developed in collaboration between Copenhagen Airport and German-based software house Metaio (which developed the core of AR), Danish-based software house Novasa (which is responsible for the app itself) and SITA Lab. SITA developed the interface between CPH’s Wi-Fi infrastructure and the positioning on iPhone. SITA Lab, the strategic technology research team at SITA, brought its air transport expertise to the project.  SITA Lab works both independently and in partnership with airlines and airports, as well as emerging technology vendors to drive innovation in the industry.