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Just curious, but why exactly do you want indoor mapping? Is finding your way around buildings really that problematic? What exactly is the point?

by 7952 15y ago

thezilch 15y ago
Google's Project Glass [0], which depicts a user entering a book store and wanting to locate the "Music section." [1] [0] https://plus.google.com/u/0/111626127367496192147/posts https://plus.google.com/u/0/111626127367496192147/posts [1] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9c6W4CCU9M4&feature=youtu.be&hd=1&t=61s http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9c6W4CCU9M4&feature=youtu...
vellum 15y ago
It's for large buildings like airports or malls. You save a few minutes by not having to find a map kiosk. http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/11/new-frontier-for-google-maps-mapping.html http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/11/new-frontier-for-goog...
aerosuch 15y ago
Yes, we can live without indoor maps, but we're suffering through a lot of inefficiencies just because we don't know yet that there's a better option. I want indoor maps because they can help reduce healthcare costs. It costs us all money when people get lost in hospitals. While environmental signage helps, it's often not sufficient. Visitors end up interrupting doctors and nurses to ask for directions. This directly costs the hospital money (leads to higher personnel costs), and leads to a poor customer experience (affects the recovery process for patients and families). It is surprising how many people get lost in hospitals: http://twitter.com/lostinabuilding http://twitter.com/lostinabuilding In addition to navigation, there are uses for facilities management, inventory management, real estate sales, and analytics on how people use buildings. I'm a big fan of using data to improve human efficiency, and these can help save time/energy/money. For retail environments, indoor maps present targeted advertising opportunities, which can lead to more efficient advertising spending for brands and retailers, and time savings for consumers. This is part of why Google is so interested in indoor maps.
- batista 15y ago
  >I want indoor maps because they can help reduce healthcare costs. It costs us all money when people get lost in hospitals. Really? Like how much money? Seems like it needs a huge "citation needed" sign.
philwebster 15y ago
Indoor mapping will be incredibly useful for those who are disabled. Knowing where to find ramps and elevators is great for mobility and for safety, but I think that for a blind person the possibilities are even greater. Being able to navigate a building independently using an application on one's phone, for instance. Maybe Google's indoor maps won't be the end-all solution, but will hopefully get institutions thinking about the possibilities.
CamperBob 15y ago
So you've never been lost in a Home Depot (or your local equivalent thereof)?

Just curious, but why exactly do you want indoor mapping? Is finding your way around buildings really that problematic? What exactly is the point?

by 7952 15y ago

Just curious, but why exactly do you want indoor mapping? Is finding your way around buildings really that problematic? What exactly is the point?

thezilch 15y ago

Google's Project Glass [0], which depicts a user entering a book store and wanting to locate the "Music section." [1] [0] https://plus.google.com/u/0/111626127367496192147/posts https://plus.google.com/u/0/111626127367496192147/posts [1] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9c6W4CCU9M4&feature=youtu.be&hd=1&t=61s http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9c6W4CCU9M4&feature=youtu...

vellum 15y ago

It's for large buildings like airports or malls. You save a few minutes by not having to find a map kiosk. http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/11/new-frontier-for-google-maps-mapping.html http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/11/new-frontier-for-goog...

aerosuch 15y ago

Yes, we can live without indoor maps, but we're suffering through a lot of inefficiencies just because we don't know yet that there's a better option. I want indoor maps because they can help reduce healthcare costs. It costs us all money when people get lost in hospitals. While environmental signage helps, it's often not sufficient. Visitors end up interrupting doctors and nurses to ask for directions. This directly costs the hospital money (leads to higher personnel costs), and leads to a poor customer experience (affects the recovery process for patients and families). It is surprising how many people get lost in hospitals: http://twitter.com/lostinabuilding http://twitter.com/lostinabuilding In addition to navigation, there are uses for facilities management, inventory management, real estate sales, and analytics on how people use buildings. I'm a big fan of using data to improve human efficiency, and these can help save time/energy/money. For retail environments, indoor maps present targeted advertising opportunities, which can lead to more efficient advertising spending for brands and retailers, and time savings for consumers. This is part of why Google is so interested in indoor maps.

batista 15y ago
>I want indoor maps because they can help reduce healthcare costs. It costs us all money when people get lost in hospitals. Really? Like how much money? Seems like it needs a huge "citation needed" sign.

philwebster 15y ago

Indoor mapping will be incredibly useful for those who are disabled. Knowing where to find ramps and elevators is great for mobility and for safety, but I think that for a blind person the possibilities are even greater. Being able to navigate a building independently using an application on one's phone, for instance. Maybe Google's indoor maps won't be the end-all solution, but will hopefully get institutions thinking about the possibilities.

CamperBob 15y ago

So you've never been lost in a Home Depot (or your local equivalent thereof)?