XRLoc: Accurate UWB Localization to Realize XR Deployments

TL;DR

XRLoc is a novel UWB localization system that achieves centimeter-level accuracy with a single anchor, enabling practical XR applications with high update rates and low latency.

Contribution

The paper introduces XRLoc, a UWB localization method that overcomes single-anchor limitations to achieve high accuracy and fast updates in real-world XR deployments.

Findings

Median accuracy of 2.4 cm in dynamic scenarios

At least 8× better accuracy than existing systems

Localization latency of approximately 1 ms

Abstract

Understanding the location of ultra-wideband (UWB) tag-attached objects and people in the real world is vital to enabling a smooth cyber-physical transition. However, most UWB localization systems today require multiple anchors in the environment, which can be very cumbersome to set up. In this work, we develop XRLoc, providing an accuracy of a few centimeters in many real-world scenarios. This paper will delineate the key ideas which allow us to overcome the fundamental restrictions that plague a single anchor point from localization of a device to within an error of a few centimeters. We deploy a VR chess game using everyday objects as a demo and find that our system achieves $2.4$ cm median accuracy and $5.3$ cm $90^\mathrm{th}$ percentile accuracy in dynamic scenarios, performing at least $8\times$ better than state-of-art localization systems. Additionally, we implement a MAC protocol to furnish these locations for over $10$ tags at update rates of $100$ Hz, with a localization latency of $\sim 1$ ms.