Why Consider Mobile Indoor Wayfinding?

November 19, 2013

According to Google, self-service is becoming the new norm – 1 in 3 shoppers use their smartphones to find information instead of asking the store employees. 74% of adult smartphone owners aged 18 and older say that they use their phones to get directions or other information based on their current location. (Source: Pew Internet)

Way finding outdoors is easy, because there are so many different navigation softwares guided by the GPS. But people also need an indoor wayfinding solution because buildings nowadays have become very complicated. There is a great need for a simple indoor wayfinding solution for mobile devices. Therefore we offer 3D Wayfinder mobile app for Android and iOS. Soon it will be available on Windows Phone as well. It helps people to navigate indoors and get the latest deals. It is a tool for retailers to advertise their brand or product on the map. The solution has many benefits:

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  • Instant updates – building owners can provide the latest maps and directions for the audience using Content Management System;

  • Additional services – integration with social media channels or other solutions;

  • Happy customers – personal wayfinding system and instant directions for everyone;

  • Powerful e-commerce tool – tenants can promote their shops and products.

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Expanding Indoor Wayfinding

October 29, 2013

People move, think and experience the world in three dimensions. The majority of media channels are using 3D technologies to attract people’s attention more and more. Nowadays, 3D has become an icon that is written on many products, even on toothpaste. There it serves a marketing purpose, but in IT sector we can make use of it.

One Estonian company, called 3D Technologies R&D has developed the first wayfinding software using WebGL. The company calls themselves a WebGL pioneers, because this technology is in its baby shoes. Most solutions that you can find at this point are usually object demos or games. They may be cool, but not practical. However, 3D Wayfinder is a very practical solution. It is a web-based service for creating building directories for large public buildings.

What is WebGL?

WebGL (Web Graphics Library) in its most basic level is a graphics library that allows us to create real-time rendered interactive 3D graphics inside browser, so it is browser-based. With it, you can experience rich 3D content within any compatible web browser, without installing additional plugin. Most modern browsers support WebGL technology to deliver hardware-accelerated 3D graphics. The HTML5 and WebGL platform allow direct access to the graphics card. That means much faster load times and smoother operation on PC and on mobile devices. According to the WebGL stats, we can show you some statistics about supported desktops and mobile browsers. Data is assembled from over 15 million visits on more than 615 participating sites over the last 60 days.

 

Source: http://webglstats.com/

As we can see from the diagrams, almost ¾ of the personal computer users, who have visited WebGL participating sites, use browsers that support that graphics library. Mobile devices percentage is low, but it is increasing on daily basis as more power is put under the hood.

WebGL Advantages

WebGL is the best solution enabling to display 3D content on every browser and platform. It is plug-in free, memory management is handled automatically and, it is royalty free web standard for low-level 3D graphics. WebGL is supported in most of the operating systems (Windows Vista or later, Mac OS 10.6 or later, Linux and Chrome OS) and browsers. Unlike other 3D graphics technologies, such as Unity 3D, Flash.

WebGL elements can be mixed with other HTML elements and composites. This enables to design and integrate according to personal needs in combination with other technologies and content. It all together offers endless possibilities for designers and developers.

3D indoor wayfinding software

Most of the indoor wayfinding solutions use traditional 2D map application. This might not reflect the information truthfully and also might be confusing. 3D Wayfinder building directory software displays the actual 3D model of a building and guides the user with graphical routes from location to destination.
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Frak engine

 

3D Technologies R&D created FRAK engine to ease up the 3D content development process. FRAK is a JavaScript 3D engine for creating interactive 3D applications. With this engine, you will have the power to build the next generation application. WebGL and the power of HTML5 gives cool designing and functionality opportunities for the future projects.

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October 2013 Newsletter

October 4, 2013

We are pleased to announce that we have made ​​significant progress in the development of a WebGL version of 3D Wayfinder. We are planning to implement it in Atrium shopping center in Russia. WebGL and the power of HTML5 gives new cool designing opportunities for upcoming projects.

Our partner, Akzia Apps has created a super-awesome design. In the near future we will offer You this exclusive chance to be one of the first who gets a glimpse of this cool project. We plan to create all our future projects in WebGL to provide better user experience.

3D Wayfinder does not mean 3-dimensional buidling directory

The whole 3D Technologies R&D team is putting a lot of energy into product development to provide better navigation (wayfinding) for our existing and future partners. We are devoting a lot of time into innovating and testing new solutions. Our team is convinced that the best solutions grow out from engaging in dialogue with users of our products.

Our latest customer surveys revealed that there is also a market for more simpler version of 3D Wayfinder for smaller buildings with smaller budgets. We already receive requests for such solutions and hopefully first one will realize soon.

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Maximize ROI

Advertising on smartphones and tablets has shown rising trends in the world and it is becoming more important information channel. 3D Wayfinder is an excellent channel for advertising to reach all user groups. It enables to advertise on all three platforms kiosk, mobile and web, which makes the solution an effective e-commerce channel.

Mobile & Web version

To meet the needs of our customers we have launched a mobile version for Android and iOS users. Windows Phone users can expect the mobile app soon. It has all the basic functions – search, deals, map etc. The building map is 2D so it could work smoothly and simply on most smartphones and tablets. The map is converted from 3D to 2D, to preserve its preciseness and to automate the process of updating. Exactly the same content that is in the kiosk and web version. All managed from one CMS. Mobile offer even more possibilities to integrate different custom solutions like social networks, loyal customer schemes, timetables and other useful features.

You can download the mobile app from your app store by searching “Lounakeskus” or, simply just scan the QR code below.

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If you wish to see the web directory in action then visit Lõunakeskus website (South Center).

We would appreciate any feedback, so if You have any questions, recommendations or desire for cooperation, just let us know.

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3D Wayfinder at Rock IT Con

August 27, 2013

3D Technologies R&D presented it’s 3D Wayfinder software at Rock IT Con 2013 fair from 24-25 of August. It was a first time event specialized on bringing together IT companies from Russia and Estonia. Our software got a lot of attraction by many companies and also by visitors from the street. We had a good opportunity to present some of our projects on our partners ML Novator’s kiosk.

3D Wayfinder @ Rock IT
3D Wayfinder @ Rock IT

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Location Based Services from Estonia

June 5, 2013

The road guide that saves you from getting lost

3D Wayfinder is also an Estonian LBS company (fit to be Regio’s little brother, if you consider their duration and breadth of operations) that has set its focus on global markets. For the last couple of years, the company has been engaged in creating digital indoor guides for large buildings. The software can be accessed in a browser, on a smartphone or an online kiosk. In essence, the goal is similar to Regio’s Hajj application — to guide people to their desired destination.

Read more…

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