Improving productivity of the Food and Beverage (F&B) industry using Apple i-Beacon

Abstract

Estimote iBeacons are small wireless sensors that can be place anywhere to provide information and even micro-locations to smartphone, tablets and other devices. It is a protocol developed by Apple and is a class of Bluetooth low energy (BLE) devices that broadcast their universally unique identifier (UUID) to nearby portable electronic devices. BLE is the basic communication technology in beacons that requires considerably low power consumption to transmit data over short distances.

Estimote ibeacons are cheap and effective in helping customers and producers in business. More people are using the beacons for their business and even for their homes. Furthermore, smartphone devices are already with us, the beacons just need some context and both will work perfectly together. Therefore, implementation of beacons would not be a problem even in food & beverage restaurants and canteens.

The objective of this project to come out with an interactive mobile application that is compatible with the estimote ibeacon. It will help to enhance productivity and also to reduce the long waiting and queuing required during the peak hours in Nanyang Technological University.

The application will be done through Android Studio that provides an integrated environment for Android application development. It will also be implemented with Estimote ibeacon. When user is within a beacon range, they will be able to receive notification and make food order through the application.