IEEE Consumer Electronics Magazine - May 2018 - 36

all smart devices are GPs enabled
and equipped with Internet and
other services, including RFId,
smart lock, Bluetooth, smart map,
and sensors.
Table 1. Map symbol chart.
Symbol

Meaning
on-road volunteer
Roadside shop owner volunteer
volunteer who can contribute time to help tourists
PcR bike for help

users within range. The private partners will undergo background verification and be provided with a smart device,
including stakeholders. All smart devices are GPS enabled and
equipped with Internet and other services, including RFID,
smart lock, Bluetooth, smart map, and sensors.
iTour is deployed in a WSN environment. The assumption is that there are nodes on the WSN relaying from central entities, i.e., base stations or access points. However, the
node deployment can be random or structured depending
upon the application area. With the help of the authentication and location information that is collected through the
WSN and smart device, iTour will provide various functionalities, such as smart maps and real-time mining and monitoring of iTour services. The smart map consists of following
functionalities: 1) resources at a glance, 2) trace volunteers
and resources, 3) real-time travel assistance, 4) a volunteer
map, 5) a vehicle map, and 6) emergency help. Different
types of actors involved in the iTour framework are represented with a unique symbol. These symbols and their
meanings are given in Table 1.

ResouRces aT a Glance
The resources map is only viewable by the iTour manager,
tourism department, home department, and other government
officials. Using this map, all of the resources in real time can
be viewed on the city map. The mining and monitoring reports
are available in this view. The monitoring component can track
the effective use of resources (e.g., the average response time
to a tourist's request, the volunteer density near tourists, the
tourist density at a particular place, and immediate directions
to nearby volunteers in case of an emergency). This map is
shown in Figure 5.

PcR van for help
on-road police for help
Traffic police for help
Tourist

Vani Vihar Square
Acharya Vihar
Police Colony

Jayadev Vihar
Figure 5. The resource view, at a glance, for administrators in iTour.

Vani Vihar Square

Jayadev Vihar

Figure 6. The trace volunteer map in iTour.

With the help of the map, a tourist can get instant assistance
from nearby volunteers, which may include on-road, roadside, and local volunteers as well as on-duty public officials.
Before communication, there is a fingerprint authentication
of both the tourist and the volunteer by their smart devices.
In a similar view, tourists can trace resources like the police
station, post office, banks, hotels, restaurants, shopping malls,
and socializing areas. There is also a possibility of online
communication through smart devices. This map is shown
in Figure 6.

Real-TIme TRavel assIsTance
Acharya Vihar

36 IEEE Consumer Electronics Magazine

TRace volunTeeRs and ResouRces

MAy 2018

In the travel assistance view, a tourist can ask for a travel plan
from one place to another. The map will show some of the
best possible options in that instant for that particular request.
The user may select one of the options to view in detail (i.e.,
vehicle classes, the distance price, ticket availability, direct/
connecting travel services, response times, and turnaround
times). If the choice matches, then the available service will
be displayed, and the tourist can plan accordingly. By comparing the options, tourists can adequately reserve a vehicle
or a seat. This view is depicted in Figure 7.

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Consumer Electronics Magazine - May 2018