What is an indoor map?
Indoor maps are maps that present the layout and structure of indoor spaces. They are usually used to guide people's location in indoor spaces and help them find their destinations. Indoor maps present information such as buildings, rooms, and facilities to users through digital means, providing people with more convenient and accurate indoor navigation services. Indoor maps are not just simple navigation. Indoor maps rely on real-time positioning data updates to meet the needs of various users and change our lifestyles.
Technical composition of indoor maps:
Indoor positioning technology
Including Wi-Fi positioning, Bluetooth positioning, UWB, infrared technology, etc., used to determine the precise location of users indoors.
Product recommendation:
E83-2G4M03S is a small-volume, low-power Bluetooth module developed by Ebyte. It uses the nRF5340 RF chip imported from Nordic and supports Bluetooth BLE5.2. The chip has a dual-core high-performance ARM Cortex-M33 core and a 32M industrial-grade crystal oscillator. It also has UART, I2C, I2S, high-speed SPI, QSPI, USB, ADC, DMA, PWM, PDM and other rich peripheral resources, which facilitate users to carry out multi-faceted development and is suitable for smart home, indoor positioning, and smart agriculture applications.
Data collection
The information of indoor space is presented digitally through indoor equipment survey, data collection, map construction and other technologies.
Navigation algorithm
Calculate the best navigation path based on the user's current location, destination and indoor map data, and provide real-time navigation guidance.
User interface design
Design an intuitive and friendly user interface to facilitate users to view maps, enter destinations, get navigation guidance and other operations.
Benefits of indoor map application:
- Dynamic data optimization
Indoor maps collect and process real-time data from existing different technical systems so that we can visualize indoor spaces in real time. Dynamic data brings together information that was originally scattered across various devices, making positioning information more real and accurate. No matter how many changes we make to the facility, real-time dynamic data optimization can keep our maps updated and ensure the authenticity of the maps.
- Cost savings
Indoor map platforms can also help us save operating costs. For example, indoor maps can help us determine which areas have the highest usage and which areas have less traffic. This information allows us to adjust the temperature and lighting of the rooms in use to save costs.
- Improve security
The use of indoor dynamic maps can also provide a reference for the security plan of our facilities. By monitoring areas with high traffic, we can determine the deployment location of security personnel. At the same time, indoor dynamic maps can display the location of emergency equipment such as fire extinguishers for quick access. In the event of a fire or other emergency, real-time dynamic maps can also provide people with the best evacuation path, and indoor dynamic maps can improve the safety of people's indoor activities.
- Barrier-free access
People with visual or hearing impairments can access indoor maps on personal devices, which makes it easier to navigate independently without seeking help from the outside world. Indoor dynamic maps can clearly mark key locations such as ramps, elevators and barrier-free passages in advance. By improving indoor barrier-free facilities, indoor dynamic maps can reduce the difficulty of free movement of people with visual or hearing impairments indoors.
Current status of indoor map development
With the development of technologies such as Wi-Fi positioning, Bluetooth positioning, and inertial navigation, the accuracy of indoor positioning has been continuously improved, providing more possibilities for the accurate drawing of indoor maps; at the same time, with the addition of technologies such as augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR), indoor maps have different display and application methods from mobile devices, allowing users to experience indoor spaces more intuitively. In the future, indoor positioning will be widely used in shopping malls, airports, and other environments, directly affecting our lifestyle and bringing convenience to our lives.