Be-In/Be-Out with Bluetooth Low Energy: Implicit Ticketing for Public Transportation Systems

When people intend to interact with a technical system they are supposed to consciously perform a designated task. They need to be attentive and aware of the provided interaction mechanisms in order to initiate a desired process. Yet, interaction may also have an implicit nature when people do not perceive that they are controlling a system but continue their natural behavior. Exemplarily, Be-In/Be-Out (BIBO) ticketing services in public transportation systems utilize implicit interaction and enable passengers to obtain their (virtual) tickets just by "being" inside a vehicle. Infrastructural appliances detect their presence and initiate services unnoticed in the background. In this paper we focus on Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) as enabling technology for the implementation of BIBO systems, evidence its applicability for the domain of public transportation systems and confine our concepts to related Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) implementations.