Digital indoor mapping: How technology is offering an immersive experience

by carly_mchugh | 3 May 2022 10:07 am

By Cara Hueston

As digital indoor mapping begins to catch up with its outdoor counterpart in terms of widespread usage, it is important businesses understand their wide variety of uses in addition to wayfinding and navigation. From logistics and operations to safety, and even sales, there are many unique applications for digital indoor mapping.

Indoor navigation

At their core, indoor maps are used to provide context and guide users to a desired destination. While this can be achieved with a simple and static 2D map, digital interactive maps unleash a variety of new ways for maps to be used.

Wayfinding, search, and categories

Digital indoor maps provide flexibility to users. Regardless if someone is searching for a specific destination (“Apple Store”) or any location that meets a certain criteria (“technology”), or if they are unsure of their needs and want to familiarize themselves within the venue, 3D interactive maps help to provide this context. 

Logistics

Digital mapping applications are often associated with public-facing applications and their purpose limited to the previously mentioned wayfinding, search, and categories. Some of the most useful applications of indoor mapping technology, however, are used in the background and as one component of a larger ecosystem. One of these ecosystems includes internal building functions, such as asset tracking, data integrations, line management, and other logistical items.

Asset tracking

Asset tracking is one of the unique ways businesses can use digital indoor mapping solutions. By combining indoor positioning with a platform to visualize the venue and its layout, logistics teams can access a detailed view of where assets are located around the building. Whether tracking inventory in a warehouse, medical equipment, or personnel in a hospital, various technology in a school or office, or documents on a construction site, indoor maps enable these experiences.

Data integrations

Depending on the venue type or industry, there may be lots of data floating around—both for internal staff or external visitors. Without a way to sort or display this information, the data can be easily lost or misrepresented. In an airport, for example, travellers must locate dynamic displays in order to find their boarding gate. From there, they must follow static signage to locate that gate and hope their destination hasn’t changed while they travel from point A to B. One way to alleviate this is by integrating data sources with a digital indoor map, wherein users can access up-to-date flight details across any device and populate the most efficient route from the same platform.

Another example of this is an office building. Particularly as more offices move to a hybrid model, employees may need more transparency around what resources are available to them in order to work efficiently. Everything from office supplies and technology, to meeting room availability, or hot desk reservations. With a digital indoor map, employees can access all of this data and use one integrated system in order to make requests or reservations across their workplace.

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Line management

When integrated with line management data, mapping solutions can display location traffic data, including the number of people in the virtual queue and the estimated wait time. In a mall, for example, shoppers can view this information directly through the digital map, access a booking link, and add themselves to the virtual queue, helping to reduce crowds and lineups at physical locations. The same technology can be applied to reservation links, allowing visitors to make an appointment or reservation online, before they arrive.  

Planning

In addition to logistical use cases, digital maps can also be used to improve processes, workflows, and efficiencies across indoor facilities. Through visualization, businesses can better understand how their spaces are being used and allocate resources accordingly. 

Space planning

A digital indoor map paired with foot traffic data can assist in internal decision making. Once businesses understand how their space is being used and can identify areas of congestion, directional movements, and so on, floor layouts can be adapted for the optimal flow. With a heat map, property owners and managers can visualize these movements—how visitors are travelling through their venue and where they are spending the most time. This can help make informed decisions on cleaning, sanitation, where signage should be placed, and so on. Similarly, indoor facilities that measure and restrict occupancy can work with digital maps as a way to visualize this data. For example, if an office workspace has a capacity limit of 10 individuals, that area may appear red on the digital map to indicate to others that the limit has been reached.

Cleaning and maintenance

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is more important now than ever for indoor venues to adhere to strict cleaning policies and schedules. By integrating a digital map into a workplace management system, for example, facilities teams can enable efficient workflows for cleaning throughout the building. One approach to
this involves allowing employees to make requests or submit work order forms. Along with helpful details, users can include an image or video when necessary and pin the precise location on the indoor map, making it easy for workplace teams to locate the problem area. Even after an issue has been resolved, teams can review valuable analytics, such as real-time status updates or average time to resolution.

Another approach to planning building-wide cleaning and maintenance is to apply automation. By integrating other location-based technologies, such as sensors with an indoor map, facilities teams can create automatically triggered notifications. For example, once a meeting room has been used a certain number of times, or a washroom has had over 10 occupants, a member of the cleaning staff can be notified and arrive to sanitize the room.

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Safety

Kept up-to-date and used correctly, indoor maps can be a fundamental safety tool. Along with assisting first responders in emergency situations, a number of the use cases for digital maps discussed in this article can improve safety across indoor venues. Space planning, asset tracking, and cleaning and maintenance, for example, are all particularly important in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure social distancing and assist with dynamically changing protocols.

First responders

In an emergency when timing is critical, having the most up-to-date mapping data can be the difference between tragedy and victory. It can take time for first responders to locate important information, such as building access points or stairwells, so to ensure the safety of visitors and employees, businesses need an easy way to share accurate digital maps of their building with emergency services.

With a digital mapping platform, indoor venues can prepare for incidents by annotating the map with important assets such as emergency exits, fire extinguishers, defibrillators, water sources or fire hoses, and so on. If emergency services do appear on site, a digital map can quickly provide them with
crucial information.

Sales

While not an obvious use case, indoor maps can actually be used as a sales enablement tool as well as in conjunction with advertising and promotions. In their digital form, indoor maps are a great platform for layering additional experiences such as these.

Leasing

Shopping malls, outlet centres, and office complexes are just a few of the venue types that can take advantage of a digital and interactive leasing map. Through this tool, property managers can showcase available units directly through the map, therefore providing potential tenants with a visual on the unit’s location in the context of the entire building. Important data such as square footage, price, agent contact information, and more can be integrated alongside the map, providing an end-to-end experience.

Advertising

There are a variety of ways to incorporate advertising with a digital indoor map. The first method is directly through the map, either by annotating “new” and “coming soon” locations, or by showcasing promotions when a user clicks on a specific location. Venues that have enabled indoor positioning can also take advantage of proximity marketing which relies on a user’s current position in order to send relevant messaging. If, for example, a user is navigating through an airport and their flight gets delayed, proximity marketing would enable the airport to send a message to the user about their flight change and provide a 10 per cent discount off a meal at the nearby restaurant. Lastly, businesses can incorporate digital out-of-home (DOOH) advertising on kiosk signage across the venue, along with the interactive venue map.  

Cara Hueston is the senior digital marketing manager at Mappedin, a Waterloo, Ont.-based company focused on powering search and discovery indoors. Mappedin is a provider of indoor mapping technology, which allows property managers to digitize their venue floor plans and enable digital experiences for guests and employees. Today, Mappedin’s software is deployed across 1,100-plus venues in 40-plus countries around the world. For more information, visit www.mappedin.com.

Source URL: https://www.signmedia.ca/digital-indoor-mapping-how-technology-offering-immersive-experience/

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