Enable web‐based tracking and guiding by integrating location‐awareness with the world wide web

Abstract

PurposeThe aim of this research is to enable web‐based tracking and guiding by integrating location‐awareness with the Worldwide Web so that the users can use various location‐based applications without installing extra software.Design/methodology/approachThe concept of web‐based tracking and guiding is introduced and the relevant issues are discussed regarding location‐aware web systems, location determination, location‐dependent content query and personalized presentation. The framework of the web‐based tracking and guiding system – the Web‐Based Guide is proposed, and its prototypical implementation is presented. The main design principles are making use of existing web technologies, making use of available and cheap devices, general‐purpose and lightweight client‐side, and good scalability.FindingsThe paper presents the general‐purpose and modular framework of the Web‐Based Guide, which consists of the Location Server, the Content Server, the Guiding Web Server and the clients which are standard web browsers extended with the Location Control. With such a framework, location‐based applications can offer the services on the web.Research limitations/implicationsThe performance of the system should be evaluated and improved, such as the number of the concurrent sessions that the system can sustain, and the workload on the system when in the tracking mode.Originality/valueThe paper proposes a framework for personalized tracking and guiding systems on the web, which can be used in campuses, museums, national parks and so on.