Month: October 2022

In the previous post, we introduced different styles of modeling and designing 3D Wayfinder maps. It is clear that exclusive buildings need a premium wayfinder solutions. In today’s post, we will talk about exclusive premium wayfinding solutions and special kiosk designs. Wayfinder kiosks do not always have to have a modest appearance and design.

Wayfinder kiosk

Crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling, marble floors and glass walls. Many shopping centers have this kind of interior design. Also, many commercial buildings or hotels have a more special and luxurious interior design. If the interior design of the building is characteristic of a high class, it is important that every detail fits together. Therefore, the kiosks must also have a luxurious and beautiful design.

Kiosk designs may vary. For example, it is possible to decorate the kiosk with crystals or golden details. There can also be different materials from which the kiosk is made.

In the pictures you see a close-up of the kiosk app. You see golden design and a complex map.

Kiosks in Lõunakeskus are made of wood. Kiosk is designed following shopping center interior and brand design. Finally, a beautiful wooden solution is ready, which fits with the interior and is user-friendly.
Estonian National Museum kiosk is made of glass. Kiosk has a metal frame, that supports the 8 mm tempered glass and holds the touch screen and computer hardware. Also it has a special “window” for looking at kiosk´s “heart”.

Premium Wayfinder solutions

Small details make a 3D map especially luxurious. If you have a commercial building and want to impress your customers, we recommend ordering a particularly detailed map. The premium 3D map designs are suitable for buildings with a luxurious interior design. Detailed 3D maps are also suitable for expensive hotels or institutions visited by wealthier people. Detailed map of the building makes an impression in any case.

In the picture you see 3D relistic and detailed model of the Viru center. The flags, ornamental bushes and sculpture in front of the center have been drawn. For example, it is not possible to display such a sculpture realistically with a 2D map. Also, the exterior facade is as real as possible, and on closer inspection you can see transparent windows. This is premium detail. All exclusive buildings could have similar models.

It is also possible to create a First person view wayfinder solution. The post shows one of the shopping malls in Oman. A 3D map drawn in detail looks good and it is especially useful for showing path in camera view (First Person View known from computer games). Such models affect positively the customer experience. Especially if it is possible to find favorite stores and special offers in the shopping center with the help of 3D wayfinder. It imitates persons point of view. The first person view house manager solution is definitely one of the premium feature that a luxury building needs.

You can order a detailed and beautiful 3D map from us. In this case, our team of specialists will prepare you a gorgeous and detailed 3D map solution that will impress all your customers. Also, tell us all your wishes regarding the design of the kiosk and we will find the best solution together.

In this post, we will introduce different options for designing 3D map. A map mostly serves the task of guiding people, but there are many different ways to design a map. When designing a map, a lot depends on what the map is designed for, which people use it, what kind of user experience they expect and what added value the map should create.

Detailed designing of 3D model

With 3D Wayfinder, you can design your own 3D map, but we also offer a complete solution with several detail levels. One way is to create very detailed designing 3D map. These are models where the textures are precise, so that it looks as real as possible. Such a 3D model is important for advertising apartment buildings, so future residents can get a very accurate idea of ​​their home.

It is not always necessary to create detailed models for the purpose of selling houses or apartments. For example, the building of the University of Applied Sciences in Tallinn has historical value. They wanted to bring a historical feel to the 3D map as well. Therefore, a detailed and realistic model was created for them.

Funway 2D map

A complete opposite to the realistic models are 2D maps. This is a map drawn using the FunWay method, which does not convey a real image, but has a nice design and is understandable to all users.

We have also prepared a detailed 3D model for them, which is much more realistic and the icons on the model are slightly more emphasized.

Simplified map view

Everyone is probably familiar with the feeling of getting lost in a hardware store and spending time for lookinf certain products. We have prepared an interior map for the hardware store in Estonia, by shelves and departments. Pins for products from specific companies have been added to the shelves and departments, which makes it much easier for customers to search for specific products. Creating such a card is quick and easy. For customers, it makes the experience of visiting a hardware store more pleasant.

A similar simplified map is suitable for shopping centers, where different businesses can advertise themselves by the logo attached to the map, and it is much easier for the customer to find the desired location.

Color based design

The designing 3D map can be based on the colors of the website or logo. For example the Kuwait Oil Company hospital map is inspired by the dark blue color of their website and logo.

Similar to the color scheme of the Kuwait hospital, a map has also been created for IdeaPark based in Finland. The color scheme of the IdeaPark shopping center is green, and a map was made for them with the same color scheme.

In addition to 3D models and maps, 3D Wayfinder also offers the option of creating a mobile app. The Ülemiste Center in Estonia has requested such a solution. Clients of the center can use the map application on a personal mobile device. The background of the Ülemiste Center mobile application map is displayed in a dark color to make it more visible on a small screen.

As you have seen, 3D Wayfinder can design very unique looking maps. In addition to the big picture, there are many options for fine tuning. For example, it is possible to choose colors of the ceiling, floor, walls and other similar surfaces. It is also possible to change shapes and colors of the road guidance, shape and color of the adjacent menu and much more. All this affects the user experience and creates value for the branding of the building or company.

Helping visitors doesn’t have to be just a cost. It is possible to earn revenue with 3D Wayfinder software and you might be surprised how profitable it actually is. It is like getting 200 m2 rental space with minimal investment. Below we present in more detail how it is possible to earn revenue with wayfinding.

Digital signage is developing at rapid speed. Besides more and more advertisement screens, there will be large LED displays, self-service terminals, 3D hologram projectors etc. Main content of course are advertisements. But the case with most of them is, that they are just like TV advertisements – people know how to ignore them and targeting is bad.

Advertising with wayfinding software can be different. It is somewhat similar to targeted ads in search-engine: you type the keyword and ads with this keyword will be shown first. Difference between just targeted ads and Wayfinder is, that while targeted ads could be good for you, they sometimes yield inferior results. When you search some company and get their advertisement first, it is useful, it makes you just click on that add. When you look something specific and get 5 ads first, then it is not so user-friendly at all. Wayfinder aims to do differently.

Wayfinding software is not search engine and would simply help to find what you are looking for: shop, brand or product category. Our targeted adds are bonus for your search – get best meal or find a shop with better discount. Even if you are looking for an exit, you might find a nice shopping deal when exiting the mall.

Different advertisement options

3D Wayfinder has different advertisement options. Besides traditional banner ads there is also a possibility to show advertisements on map, even on the 3D map:

Advertisements can be also land-marks. For example, you can be guided around the pizza place and at the same time you will see the daily pizza offer as an advertisement.

Besides improving advertisement features, we are working with technology to show advertisements in augmented reality (AR). It means that you can see the path on your mobile device camera screen and at the same time see offers and promotions, pointing to the right shop or place.

Wayfinder ROI calculations

Ok, lets talk about the numbers. Each shopping mall is different and rental-prices and revenues differ by a country. For specific calculations, please contact our sales department. Following numbers are rough estimates.

Let say the initial cost for wayfinding is following:

• Wayfinding screens with set-up (5 screens) – 15 000 euros
• Wayfinding software with maps – 5 000 euros
• Printed QR stickers, advertisement for tenants, labor cost – 5 000 euros

In total the costs will be around 20k euros. It is quite a small amount, comparing to expansions of the mall building, creating new inner-walls or setting up large LED-screen.

Now let’s say that there are about 100 tenants in shopping mall. Some of them might be larger anchor-tenants. If each tenant pays 5 euros per day on average (it is not a large amount in comparison with search engine adds that might cost 1 euro per visitor). This means only 5 clicks per day (when taking 1 euro per click). Besides, visitors will certainly spend more money while in the shopping mall, opposed to just surfing in web.

It means 5 euros (average amount spent by tenant) multiplied 100 (number of tenants) makes 500 euros per day and about 15 thousand in month. This means that the ROI of wayfinding software is only a little-bit over a month. There are not many investment options with that good profitability!

When we take rental price of 15 euros per square meter, this additional 15 thousand means that shopping mall gets the same fee as renting out 1000 m2. Building additional 1000 m2 is probably more expensive that 1 million euros. This means using wayfinder solution with advertisements is as profitable as additional 1000 m2, but instead of costing 1 million, it only costs 20 thousand.

Following figures are illustrative and depend on type of the building (mall), location, visitors’ profile, tenants etc). To calculate ROI based on your project, please contact our sales team.

3D Wayfinder wayfinding software can be purchased in different ways. In this post we will give a short overview of possible licensing options. Choosing suitable licensing type depends on your (or your customer) needs, but we will certainly be able to find the optimal solution for each project.

First of all, 3D Wayfinder is licensed per project (building or block of buildings). This means we don’t count number of kiosks, users or building size. This makes licensing transparent and simple. When adding kiosks/totems to the building later, you don’t have to pay anything extra.
Licensing is also the same for wayfinder end-customers and resellers. There is no difference in licing model. Of course, for our partners (resellers, system integrators, digital signage providers etc.) we can make discounts from 3D Wayfinder prices.

There are basically three options for licensing:

• Using 3D Wayfinder as a service (SaaS)
• Lifetime license (one-time payment)
• Enterprise license for private server

All these options are covered below.

SaaS licensing

Buying software as a service (SaaS) is most common way to sell software nowadays. It is mainly used for web-based software and it means you can access the software as long as your subscription is valid.

3D Wayfinder can also be purchased as a SaaS. There will be discount when paying longer periods upfront, but it is possible to pay also by months. This makes it flexible, so when there is no need for wayfinding anymore, you can just end the subscription. This might be good option to one-time exhibitions or events where wayfinding is needed but only for the time event takes place.

For resellers we have also SaaS based licensing option. In this case software is hosted in virtual private server (VPS) and there is everything needed for custom branding (White Label). For more information, please contact our sales.

Lifetime license

Lifetime (or Perpetual) license means, there is just a one-time fee for the software. Wayfinding software is still being hosted in our server, but the customer owns the software.

All the updates are available without any extra cost. Everything works like SaaS, but without any additional payments for the software.

In case we have to stop providing software in our servers (this will hopefully never happen), then our customer can get an Enterprise license (with right to install software to their private server).

Lifetime license is a good way when you want to minimize the running costs, especially because with 3D Wayfinder all the content can be administrated by yourself.

When you buy kiosks or touch-screens, then you can buy also wayfinding software. Only thing you have to worry about is electricity and internet (when using 3D Wayfinder offline snapshots https://3dwayfinder.com/offline-wayfinding/, kiosks don’t even have to be connected to the internet).

Enterprise license

3D Wayfinder enterprise license is for hosting wayfinder software in private server. This type of licensing is good for resellers, allthough very often also large shoping malls, government organizations, hospitals and companies use this option too.

Installing wayfinder software in private server has many advantages: customization, security concernes, direct access to wayfinding data etc. Server can be setup to be accessed from local network only, which makes loading large 3D maps faster and makes all systems very secure.

For enterprise server we provide regular updates, so all the new features in 3D Wayfinder can be added to enterprise installation also.

For more information, please see overview of Enterprise Server (https://3dwayfinder.com/solutions/enterprise-license/) or contact our sales team.