A Study on the Design of Smart Navigation Watch in Metro Space

The subway is a vital component of modern urban transportation, accommodating millions of daily passengers. However, its underground environment prevents effective reception of GPS signals, which significantly reduces the usability of existing navigation products. Weak signal reception, complex information hierarchies, and unclear way finding systems hinder passengers from quickly locating trains, identifying transfer routes, and reaching destinations efficiently. To address these limitations, this study conducted field investigations and user experience analyses across various stages of metro travel station entry, in station movement, train riding, and exit. Based on these findings, we designed an intelligent smartwatch based navigation system specifically tailored for subway environments. The proposed system integrates multiple wireless communication technologies, including WLAN, RFID, and UWB, to enhance positioning accuracy in complex underground spaces. Active readers, antennas, and passive RFID tags are deployed in stations, tunnels, and trains to establish a real ime, high precision location framework. On the user side, the smartwatch interface is optimized for its compact screen size with a lightweight and intuitive information architecture, shallow page hierarchies, consistent button and gesture definitions, and multi modal feedback through voice and vibration alerts. These design strategies minimize cognitive load while improving accessibility and operability. The system supports real time navigation, transfer guidance, and exit location, ultimately reducing passenger uncertainty and travel time. Beyond practical improvements in metro travel efficiency, this study also highlights the broader applicability of wearable based navigation systems, offering theoretical and technological foundations for the development of next generation intelligent transportation and urban way finding solutions.