Dive Brief:
- Mappedin’s new AI-powered tool aims to strengthen indoor navigation and public safety in schools and other commercial and community venues.
- Users can upload a floor plan of their venue or use the Maker App for iOS to create a map, which Mappedin Maker converts into a digital map. This map can be posted on websites for wayfinding or downloaded as a PDF for offline use, Mappedin says.
- The indoor mapping company says it has shifted from its prior focus on enterprise companies by making Mappedin Maker widely available for free to users, from CAD experts to operators who do not necessarily have a mapping background.
Dive Insight:
The need for accurate maps of indoor environments is critical in schools and communities for first-responders’ navigation and tracking systems. When responding to emergencies, saving time and increasing the speed of determining the layouts of structures enables first responders to make informed decisions before entering a building, according to Kathryn Coulter Mitchell, senior official performing the duties of the under secretary for Science and Technology at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
The DHS has partnered with Mappedin to develop a suite of AI-powered tools aimed at automating the mapping process. Such tools include Mappedin Response, a cloud-based capability that enables first responders to review and analyze indoor floor plans in real-time while responding to emergencies.
Mappedin says its new tool, Mappedin Maker will bridge the gap by providing access to an interactive 3D wayfinding map as well as a facility for multi-format exports where users can download a safety version of their map and send it to local emergency response units as needed. The tool allows users to create a georeferenced vector map of a building “in a matter of minutes,” according to a Sept. 25 news release.
“At Mappedin, we believe there should be 'one map everywhere'," Mappedin CEO, Hongwei Liu, said in the release.
Morten Brøgger, CEO of MapsPeople, noted that indoor mapping renovations not only help improve building operations and management, but also optimize processes and boost overall efficiency. “Buildings have been under-invested from a technology point of view,” Brøgger told Facilities Dive recently. But “that is changing right now.”
