Detecting Proximity with Bluetooth Low Energy Beacons for Cultural Heritage

The RE.S.I.STO project targets visitors of Pisa medieval city, with the goal of providing high-quality digital contents accessible with smart devices. We describe the design, implementation and the test phases of the RE.S.I.STO application, whose goal is to automatically detect the proximity between visitors and artworks. Proximity is detected with a set of algorithms based on the analysis of Bluetooth Low Energy beacons. We detail our experimental campaigns which reproduce several museum layouts of increasing complexity at two pilot sites, and we compute the performance of the implemented algorithms to detect the nearby artworks. In particular, we test our solution in a wide open space located in our research institute and by performing a real deployment at the Camposanto Monumentale located in Pisa (Italy). The obtained performance varies in the range of 40% to perfect accuracy, according to the complexity of the considered museum layouts. We also describe a set of stress and stability tests aimed at verifying the robustness of the application during the data collection process. Our results show that the mobile application is able to reduce the beacon loss rate, with an average value of 77% of collected beacons.