Wo bin ich : Patentierte Lokalisierungsdienstleistungen
Die Antwort auf ein bislang ungelöstes Fingerprinting-Problem lieferten drei Forscher aus der Universität Duisburg-Essen. Das Verfahren ist besonders, weil es eine schnelle Installation und Kalibrierung der Infrastruktur in neuen Umgebungen erlaubt.
After five years of intense research in the area of indoor localization, three researchers of the University of Duisburg-Essen have founded Locoslab GmbH, a company that sells indoor localization solutions for airports, shopping centers, trade fairs and other applications. Locoslab offers three services: (1) The installation and provision of software and hardware needed to build an infrastructure for indoor localization. (2) The design and implementation of Apps for Android and iOS to meet the specific needs of the end-users. (3) Analysis tools for big-data that has been extracted through the use of location-based services. With their patent-pending calibration approach, Locoslab GmbH is able to install a localization system in minutes instead of weeks or hours, making it a viable alternative for new application areas where installations are needed in quick changing environments such as trade fairs or conferences. Despite the great support from the UDE regarding the submission of the patent application, there are a number of issues that need to be mentioned with respect to funding a new company. First of all, as a founder and scientist, it is very hard to understand that other people might not be genuinely interested in the elegance of the solution and do not appreciate its beauty. Secondly, putting a price to someone’s own invention is harder than it seems, mostly due to the emotional attachment to the solution itself. All in all, it is great to have the opportunity to fund a company and work on commercializing the product of scientific work although one needs to understand very quickly that most of the challenges to be solved are not of technical nature and cannot be solved through patents or even logic. It is a hell of a trip to get involved with a start-up and one has to be a little crazy to do it but it is also extremely rewarding, especially if things go well in the end.