idw – Informationsdienst Wissenschaft
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Getting lost in the Bavarian State Library has become virtually impossibly with the help of the new “BSB-Navigator” app which you can now download for free in the Apple App Store. Thanks to modern beacon technology, the indoor navigator accurately guides its user through the historical building at the Ludwigstraße. This makes the Bavarian State Library the first library in Germany to offer its visitors software like that for their smartphones.
152 meters long, 27 meters high and 78 meters deep – the library building, erected in the mid-19th century, with its famous gigantic flight of stairs is a spacious structure with many floors and corners. Several reading rooms, a range of specific local services – from local lending to the information desk: Visitors and users initially might find it difficult to get a sense of orientation. For iPhone users, “BSB-Navigator” now provides a remedy. The app makes it super easy to navigate precisely through the building and it offers a number of options and features:
• An interactive map which shows all the building’s floors and levels accessible to the user; the user can select a level of choice and the smartphone shows his or her position at all times.
• Real-time indoor navigation which guides the user directly and precisely to any selected destination within the library.
• A “Discovery Mode” which literally in passing draws the user’s attention to interesting objects, places, and facts related to the library.
• A tour function which, after selecting a route, guides the user through the library alongside designated points of interest. Currently, two tours are available: the “General Tour” for newbie users and the “Sightseeing Tour”, a guide to the touristic highlights of the State Library.
To navigate users via an app through the library building, you need so-called beacons since GPS navigation does not work indoors. More than 240 of these beacons, signal generators of two centimeters size, have been mounted inside the Bavarian State Library. At regular intervals, they send signals via Bluetooth Low Energy and detect the app user’s location. The application of beacons technology for this use case was tested as part of a student project of the Chair for Applied Software Technology at the Technical University Munich and now goes live in the form of the iOS app “BSB-Navigator”.
The user can start the navigation by tapping the “Take me there” button once the app is installed and Bluetooth is activated. Optionally during navigation, the user receives information on the State Library’s services and sights as push notifications. “Researchers, university students, secondary school students, general public and tourists – the Bavarian State Library has a wide variety of users. Now, thanks to the app, all of them have the opportunity to explore new avenues. On the one hand, this is because “BSB-Navigator” precisely guides users through the building. On the other hand, this is because the Bavarian State Library offers indoor navigation as an innovative service, something that is unparalleled in Germany so far,” says Dr. Klaus Ceynowa, Director General of the Bavarian State Library.
Download
The app “BSB-Navigator” can be downloaded for free in the Apple App Store.
Introductory Film
The Bavarian State Library’s YouTube channel (www.youtube.de/BayStaatsbibliothek) features a film that gives an introduction to the app.
Printable press photos for download:
http://transfer.bsb-muenchen.de/oea/BSB_Navigator
Images:
Image 1: „BSB Navigator“ – the Bavarian State Library’s new app.
Image 2: An interactive map shows all the building’s floors accessible to the user.
Image 3: A tour function leads the app user to a number of touristic highlights located inside the Bavarian State Library.
Image 4, 5: „BSB Navigator“ guides the user directly and precisely to a selected destination.
Photo Credits/Copyright: Bayerische Staatsbibliothek/Bokowsky+Laymann
Criteria of this press release:
Journalists
interdisciplinary
transregional, national
Studies and teaching, Transfer of Science or Research
English
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