Demo: Unsupervised indoor localization

We propose UnLoc [1], an unsupervised indoor localization scheme that bypasses the need for war-driving. Our key observation is that certain locations in an indoor environment present an identifiable signature on one or more sensing dimensions. An elevator, for instance, imposes a distinct pattern on a smartphone's accelerometer; a specific spot may experience an unusual magnetic fluctuation. This form of urban sensing and activity recognition has already been demonstrated in literature [2, 3], but not yet applied in pure localization applications. We hypothesize that these kind of signatures naturally exist in the environment and can be envisioned as internal landmarks of a building. Mobile devices that "sense" these landmarks can recalibrate their locations, while dead-reckoning schemes can track them between landmarks. Neither war-driving nor floorplans are necessary - the system simultaneously computes the locations of users and landmarks, in a manner so that they converge reasonably quickly. We believe this is an unconventional approach to indoor localization, holding promise for real-world deployment.