Qualcomm announced that its subsidiary, Qualcomm Atheros, is working closely with Acuity Brands in the commercial deployment of LED lighting fixtures/services (marketed by Acuity Brands as Bytelight™ Services) that use Qualcomm® Lumicast™ technology to bring indoor positioning capabilities and services to retailers. Unlike RF-based technologies, Lumicast uses visible-light signals transmitted from LED fixtures to deliver indoor positioning. A regular smartphone, using apps enabled by Lumicast software, receives the light signals through the front camera to determine its position and orientation with exceptional precision and speed.

Shopping in a big department store can quickly devolve from a simple errand to an odyssey filled with frustration. What section do they put the bath towels in again? Is there a route to take that avoids the chemical attack of the perfume aisle on the way to kitchenware? Where do they put the on-sale jackets?