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Comment by aerosuch | Hacker News Reader

Julian - just listened to your question from SXSW last year. I was part of another discussion on indoor maps this year: http://schedule.sxsw.com/2012/events/event_IAP100110

One of my fellow panelists from Google discussed ways for developers to use Google's existing map tools to create their own indoor map content. This uses the Google Maps slippy map API, but doesn't require the developer to submit indoor map data to Google: http://www.google.com/events/io/2011/sessions/map-your-busin...

I would also like to see indoor map data, especially for public spaces, be more freely (libre) available. There are a few contributors at OpenStreetMap working on indoor maps, but privacy/data structure/data acquisition pose significant challenges. I'm sure they'd be interested in your help!

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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?

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

[1] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9c6W4CCU9M4&feature=youtu...

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-goog...

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

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.

>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.

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.

Thanks, just listening now

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