A multi-level localization system for intelligent user interfaces

The localization of employees in the industrial environment plays a major role in the development of future intelligent user interfaces and systems. Yet, localizing people also raises ethical, legal and social issues. While a precise localization is essential for context-aware systems and real-time optimization of processes, a permanently high localization accuracy creates opportunities for surveillance and therefore has a negative impact on workplace privacy. In this paper, we propose a new concept of a multi-level localization system which tries to find a way to meet both the technical requirements for a localization with a high accuracy as well as the interests of employees in terms of privacy. Depending on the users-location, different localization technologies are used, that restrict the accuracy to the least required level by design. Furthermore, we present a prototypical implementation of the concept that shows the feasibility of our multi-level localization concept. Using this system, intelligent systems become able to react on employees based on their location without permanently monitoring the precise user location.