We have been interested in way-finding and ‘context aware spatial information delivery’ for some time. We have aspirational ideas for pushing the envelope in this app space but, as with all things, we are starting small and building a coherent strategy around our developments.
At this time of year we welcome new students to the institution and, inevitably there is a need to help people to orientate themselves in their unfamiliar surroundings. Normal mapping apps or services get you to the campus and static signage shows you the detail - we want to find a way to cover that liminal space in between.
We have previously released PC Finder for Android , with a web version available as well, to indicate to users the potential availability of computers around the campuses. Due to the list format UI, filtered only by campus, it could tell you ‘what’ you wanted but not necessarily ‘where’.
Roomfinder is our first foray into spatial context. It features stylized image maps of the campuses and uses available Location APIs to determine your device location. This is visually displayed according to position with an indication of accuracy(using the familiar UX of most map based applications). The image maps are scalar (SVG) and so fidelity is preserved on a range of resolutions and this also facilitates location point adjustment as the UI zooms in or out. You can choose to search for a room by keying in the name, which dynamically filters the resulting list, or you can drill down by campus or building. There is an optional direction capability to indicate orientation, like a compass, which introduces a wayfinding sense of direction.
To expand upon the utility of the app we have built a push notification system into it using Google App Engine as the processing component. This again is an initial step into a space which we foresee as becoming more useful and gaining greater adoption - the changing vectors of communications to mitigate the perceived stifling overload of traditional methods like email. Combined with context notifications can be much more pertinent and so leading to more user engagement.
This service will compliment traditional signage and any upcoming Google indoor mapping, by overlaying information applicable to the combination of location and moment.
Over time we hope to add more context to our apps, for Roomfinder this could be point to point path navigation (“maps at the room and floor level”), utility pinpointing (“nearest cafe to me”), integration with other apps and datasets (“visual indication of PC usage in areas”), spatial notification (“you are near the restaurant, today there is an offer on x”) and a myriad of other user stories that could be catered for. We are just starting.
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