Indoor navigation needs indoor positioning

Q: "How does indoor wayfinding work?"

"Indoor wayfinding uses Bluetooth beacons installed throughout a building as reference points. A visitor's smartphone picks up signals from nearby beacons, combines them with inertial sensor data, and calculates their position - typically to within two to three metres. That position appears as a blue dot on an indoor map inside your app, with turn-by-turn directions to their destination."

Q: "Does indoor wayfinding work on both iPhone and Android?"

"Yes. Crowd Connected's positioning SDK supports both iOS and Android. The blue-dot experience and turn-by-turn navigation work identically on both platforms."

Q: "How long does it take to set up wayfinding in a building?"

"Beacon installation for a typical building takes a few hours. The beacons are battery-powered and self-adhesive - no cabling, no power points, no specialist tools. Map integration depends on your chosen mapping provider (we integrate with MapsPeople, MazeMap, Mappedin, and others) but can be completed within days."

Q: "What's the difference between wayfinding and indoor positioning?"

"Indoor positioning is the underlying technology that calculates where someone is inside a building. Wayfinding is the application layer - it uses that position data to show a visitor where they are on a map and guide them to where they want to go. You need indoor positioning for wayfinding, but indoor positioning has other applications too (analytics, tracking, engagement)."

Indoor maps available on mobile phones are becoming essential for any large building or event. But without an indoor positioning system, the user experience just doesn’t match Google and Apple maps outdoors.

Buildings are often as hard to navigate as a maze

Wayfinding is the process of navigating through a complex indoor environment - a hospital, airport, university campus, or event venue. Digital wayfinding combines an indoor positioning system with a map on a visitor’s smartphone, providing a blue-dot experience and turn-by-turn directions indoors, just like Google Maps outdoors. Unlike static signage or kiosk-based directories, digital wayfinding follows the visitor, reroutes when they take a wrong turn, and works across multiple floors.

All large buildings need indoor navigation

Critical appointments

In hospitals, lost people lead to real inefficiency as well as anxiety. Hospitals could save up to $1 million per building by improving wayfinding.

Product location

Retailers are experiencing a 3-5% loss in revenue relating to unlocatable products. Help shoppers navigate your offer using indoor maps and indoor positioning.

Enhanced discovery

Exhibitions can deliver 20% more value to visitors and exhibitors by improving wayfinding and discovery, so that visitors are able to find all the exhibitors they're looking for.

Airport wayfinding

Up to 80% of delayed flights are due to passengers boarding late or not at all. And late flights cost the US economy $33 billion annually.

Our mapping integrations

Our 'blue dot' technology means an indoor map opens at the user's location, follows them while they navigate, and reroutes them when they take a wrong turn. Just like Google and Apple maps. We integrate with all the leading indoor mapping providers.

Indoor positioning has always been hard

Apple IMDF Fingerprinting

Apple IMDF Fingerprinting is free. But it isn’t accurate enough, and leaves out Android users.

WiFi solutions

Cisco Spaces positioning isn’t cost effective once the Spaces licence is taken into account, and the accuracy and latency aren’t sufficient for good navigation.

Our next generation solution

Self-calibration

We use advances in smartphone hardware, machine learning and cloud computing to achieve the best accuracy, but without the calibration and fingerprinting. Every single phone auto-calibrates to ensure optimal accuracy, all the time.

Works in any building

No requirement for specific access points, or specific beacon locations, works in any building.

Works with any iBeacon

Our own smart beacons have many advantages. But our indoor positioning works with any iBeacon compatible hardware.

Works with WiFi access points

Modern access points have Bluetooth Low Energy radios that can be configured to transmit iBeacon signals. Which means they can be used as the infrastructure for our indoor positioing solution. No additional overlay required.

Simple to integrate SDK

One single platform that not only provides navigation, but also includes location analytics and customer experience tools.

Easiest installation process

Self-install option is quick and simple. Or our global network of partners can do the installation for you. Either way, we have the quickest and simplest installation process in the market.

Millions of users across the globe

Our positioning software has been downloaded by tens of millions of phones. Our solution is used by leading mapping providers, systems integrators, well know buildings, and event organisers across the globe.

How indoor wayfinding works

Indoor wayfinding turns any building into a navigable space by combining three elements: a network of low-cost Bluetooth beacons that act as reference points, an indoor positioning engine running on the visitor’s smartphone, and a digital map rendered inside your existing app.

When a visitor opens the app, the positioning engine picks up signals from nearby beacons, combines them with inertial sensor data from the phone, and calculates their location - typically to within two to three metres. That position appears as a blue dot on the indoor map, just like outdoor navigation. The system then provides turn-by-turn directions to their destination, rerouting automatically if they take a wrong turn.

Unlike fingerprinting-based systems, Crowd Connected’s wayfinding solution requires no calibration walks and no manual signal mapping. Our patented self-calibrating algorithm adjusts to each building automatically, which means deployment takes hours rather than weeks. The beacons are battery-powered and wireless, so there’s no power or cabling to worry about - making it equally practical for permanent installations in hospitals and universities, or temporary deployments at events and exhibitions.

Indoor wayfinding that works like outdoor maps

Visitors expect indoor navigation to feel as natural as Google Maps. Our positioning technology delivers that experience - accurate blue-dot wayfinding across entire buildings, with the simplest deployment in the market.

Find out more about our platform

Explore

Frequently asked questions

How does indoor wayfinding work?

Indoor wayfinding uses Bluetooth beacons installed throughout a building as reference points. A visitor’s smartphone picks up signals from nearby beacons, combines them with inertial sensor data, and calculates their position - typically to within two to three metres. That position appears as a blue dot on an indoor map inside your app, with turn-by-turn directions to their destination.

Does indoor wayfinding work on both iPhone and Android?

Yes. Crowd Connected’s positioning SDK supports both iOS and Android. The blue-dot experience and turn-by-turn navigation work identically on both platforms.

How long does it take to set up wayfinding in a building?

Beacon installation for a typical building takes a few hours. The beacons are battery-powered and self-adhesive - no cabling, no power points, no specialist tools. Map integration depends on your chosen mapping provider (we integrate with MapsPeople, MazeMap, Mappedin, and others) but can be completed within days.

What's the difference between wayfinding and indoor positioning?

Indoor positioning is the underlying technology that calculates where someone is inside a building. Wayfinding is the application layer - it uses that position data to show a visitor where they are on a map and guide them to where they want to go. You need indoor positioning for wayfinding, but indoor positioning has other applications too (analytics, tracking, engagement).

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