HiMeter: Telling You the Height Rather than the Altitude

Area of Science:

• Mobile computing
• Sensor technology
• Human-computer interaction

Background:

• User's vertical position (height) is valuable context for mobile applications.
• Existing methods often rely on altitude (sea level), which is less useful than relative height.
• Height information has potential applications in navigation, health, and tourism.

Purpose of the Study:

• To confirm user demand for height information in mobile applications.
• To propose an effective and accurate method for calculating smartphone height.
• To develop a practical solution for mobile height estimation.

Main Methods:

• Conducted a nation-wide online survey on the desirability of height information.
• Developed HiMeter, an approach utilizing a smartphone's low-power barometer.
• Focused on vertical movement patterns and novel techniques, avoiding GPS and server reliance.
• Eliminated the need for reference points and complex absolute altitude calculations.

Main Results:

• Survey results confirmed positive user desirability for height information.
• HiMeter achieved high accuracy: within 5 m in 90% of indoor cases.
• HiMeter achieved 10 m accuracy in 83% of outdoor cases.
• Demonstrated superior accuracy and practicality compared to existing methods.

Conclusions:

• HiMeter is an effective and accurate method for calculating smartphone height.
• The approach is practical and suitable for diverse mobile applications.
• HiMeter offers a significant improvement over existing height estimation techniques.