Tag: 3D wayfinding system

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.

Airports are often places that many people do not visit very often and therefore they can be difficult to navigate. Finding the right gate in the right terminal is something that can cause a lot of stress under the time pressure and unknown venue. Luckily there are wayfinding solution for airports. Also we have installed our software in many airports across the globe what make navigating easier.

Integrating different features into Wayfinding system is made easy thanks to the open platform. One solution that could help airport visitors is a Wayfinding solution that directs user to the right gate after scanning the boarding pass. Also integrating barcode reader to Wayfinding will make user experience better and can help show innovativeness of the venue.

Lately, we were happy to offer our solution to one of the biggest airports in Indonesia. Our local partners helped them to set up the whole system. It is also based on enterprise license server solution which offers them a possibility to host solution in their own server. Also they wanted to include boarding pass barcode scanning feature. They want to give their visitors an easy and quick way to find their desired gate.

Indoor positioning is the right solution for airports. We believe that guiding people with the help of 3D Wayfinder software will make using the airport more convenient. User comfort and satisfied guests should be the goal of every airport. We hope you had the idea to contact us for wayfinding solution for airports.

3D Wayfinder has developed many solutions to airports. To get some more information about different integration possibilities contact us today and we are happy to give you a demonstration of our software. If you are interested of our wayfinding solution for airports then contact our sales department.

3D Wayfinder uses a in-house built JavaScript Keyboard for search input. A On Screen Keyboard (Keyboard later on) is used when there is no physical keyboard. For security and ease of use reasons we can’t use the Operating Systems builtin Keyboard.

Previously we used our own User Interface library to manage the state of our applications. But times have moved on and we are now using other more popular and powerful open source libraries like AngularJS and VueJS. We managed to use the old Keyboard also with these libraries. But it wasn’t very handy and meant that we had to import libraries that were not necessary for whole project (eg jQuery).

So we decided to get free of 3rd party libraries and make it easy to install via npm (nodejs package manager).

Our On Screen Keyboard is usable with any UI library that supports importing ES6 module formats. You can define Your own keyboard layouts and actions with a JSON layout file. So we can have any language that we ever need and also make also fully custom keyboards that only a number pad or have special buttons for custom actions. Also the Keyboard itself allows to switch the layout.

Check out the GitHub page.

For the past few months we have been working on making content management system better and more user-friendly. There is a constant work on fixing bugs and but with this blog post we are ready to introduce you a few updates that make using our CMS easier.

1. Adding a new POI directly from editor.

Before it was necessary to add every POI under “Locations” section but with our latest update it is possible to do it directly in the map editor. Just choose the desired POI, click on “Edit” and from section opening on the right just click “Create new”. Simple as that!

2. Hiding/showing mesh

With some models it used to be quite a time-consuming work to get the nodes in their right positions. Sometimes node appeared on the mesh and therefore it was needed to move them downwards manually. With our latest updates it makes removing mesh easy and fast. Just select the mesh you would like hide and click on “Hide mesh”. No more manual work!

3. Connecting nodes on different floors

It used to be complicated to connect nodes on different floors due to different possibilities of stairs, escalators, elevators etc. Luckily we have removed that problem and added a pop-up box when the user tries to take the path from one floor to another.

There will be some more updates coming soon! We will let you know more on that in our next blog post.

Wayfinding applications are not just maps with “You Are Here” dot anymore. There are many possible functionalities and widgets that our customers prefer to see on their wayfinding applications. 3D Wayfinders HTML-based user interface makes it really easy to add and use such widgets in wayfinding application.

As wayfinding kiosks are usually in visible places. Visitors would also like to find other kind of information than the building map and directory listing. Large shopping malls are usually accessible via intercity bus or metro stations. It is important to find the commuting schedules. Also in larger modern shopping malls. There are integrated cinemas, which would also like to show their programme.

Nowadays people have smartphones, that can show weather forecast and date beside the clock. But still one of the things our customers are asking for quite often. This is a clock integrated to the wayfinding application.

We have created a NPM package ‘ng.clock’ for the widget. It can be found at https://www.npmjs.com/package/ng.clock. Demo of the clocks can be found here https://codepen.io/tonister/pen/qpyBgQ. This clock widget is made as an AngularJS 1.x Directive. The choice to use AngularJS is due to the fact that almost all our latest templates have been created using AngularJS.

3D Wayfinder user interface is created with HTML. It is easy to implement any widget or integrate bus or cinema schedules inside wayfinding application user interface. Although it might be good to mention that for some of these features the API licenses are not free. If they are free then they are very limited.

Thanks to HTML5 based layouts it is easy to integrate different kind of widgets in wayfinding application. For example exchange rates, events, news, weather forecasts, social media feeds, CAP alerts, time remaining till closing.

Harbour placed shopping mall Nautica has got a new name and a new look. After rebuilding the shopping mall, two wayfinding kiosks were also placed. Although the mall is not large, the wayfinding feature is really important for them.

Nautica mall in Tallinn, Estonia reopened in the end of 2017. It has only about 60 shops but wayfinding kiosks are more important than ever after the renovations. Old shops are in new places, new shops have been advertised but neither the old or new clients know where to find them.

In Nautica things are made even more difficult. Because a new floor was added and most of the restaurants, ATM-s and bathrooms are placed there.

Kiosks in Nautica are simple and practical. They don’t take a lots of room and their slanted design indicates immediately that the screen. Even though it might have an advertisement as a screensaver – is meant for customers to use.

Kiosks are conveniently placed by the doors of the two main entrances. These are the first things that every customer sees when they enter. Placement like this makes it easy for visitors to notice. They don’t need to start looking for maps or signs when they are not sure where they should go.

It is also practical because it’s more likely for the visitor to take notice of the kiosk right after entering than in the middle of the busy mall. So when they need to use it later, it’s easier for them to remember where to find it.

The design for the new template was provided by the mall. We only needed to bring it into reality. They wanted a stylish and simple look with clear and easy to use interface. They also wanted to have all the shop names displayed on default screensaver, slowly rolling by on the screen. This animation with shop logos also works on map view. If the customer hasn’t touched the screen for a little while.

Sometimes it’s the small things that make all the difference. New “Toggle top view” feature in 3D Wayfinders administration panels editor is a useful tool that will give needed help to our users.

Toggle top view shows all the maps straight from the top and it works with both 2D and 3D maps. While this feature is selected, the rotation is disabled. This is most useful when marking paths on the map. It could also be used if you want to set kiosk view straight from the top on 3D maps.

“Toggle top view” can be found on the top of the editor under “Settings“.

We have finished installation of approximately 250 iBeacons for mobile app positioning. Although the installation process is easy. There are some tricks and common practises to follow, when setting up iBeacon based indoor positioning.

iBeacons installation

iBeacons are cost effective indoor positioning devices, that are really easy to install. As each iBeacon has it’s own battery, that can last about a year, then there is no need for external power supply. Devices are very light, so it is possible to mount them by using double-sided tape.

Even though the installation of one iBeacon is a simple matter. Overall installation process can be quite long and somewhat physically exhausting due to the constant climbing up and down the ladder/platform.

At first glance it might seem that the device will disrupt the look of the building. But, as we can see from the image below, if you take into consideration the overall theme and look of the building during choosing of the device, it merges into the plethora of different sensors and equipment covering the ceiling.

Before installing devices. It is important to mark down the specifications for each iBeacon device. Each iBeacon has it’s parameters: unique ID, name and range.

It is also a good practice to mark the iBeacons. So that you know you’re installing the correct device to the correct location. For this we used a label printer.

Plan before iBeacons installing

It is good to have a plan before physical installation. We used the map of the building to first draw a layout of the placement of the devices and their coverage area. It is a common practice to have a minimum of 3 iBeacons covering any part of the mappable area for the navigation to work efficiently.

Configuring iBeacons in 3D Wayfinder is also easy. Just create a node with type “iBeacon” and enter iBeacon parameters (UUID, Name etc.). To manage all the devices from one place, open “Beacons” from the left-side menu. You can do this prior to the actual installation when you are confident that your layout will work.

It is highly recommended to install the iBeacons to a height unreachable for the visitors of the building, so no one could easily snatch them. We installed the devices onto the ceiling. For this we used a painters platform that had wheels on them so it is easy to move it around the building. We recommend setting the platform to a height so the person installing the devices could stand up straight and then reach the ceiling without having to stretch too much.

Good time to install iBeacons in a shopping mall is when there are not that many people.

Here you can find more information about using iBeacons with 3D Wayfinder. If you’d like to test iBeacon-based positioning, please submit the request form for demo iBeacons.

In recent days, we were having problems with 3D model converter. These problems are partially fixed now, so converting non-corrupted 3D files shouldn’t cause any interruption anymore.

3D Wayfinder’s model file converter has stopped quite often lately, when converting corrupted 3D floor-plan files. Every time converter stopped, we had to start the process manually and clean the converting queue.
All 3D files are converted to JSON format, so they can be load in 3D Wayfinder. Our converter supports many 3D file formats, most common are FBX and DAE.
The problems were with couple of models, that caused invalid JSON when converting.
We have added error catching for this, so the rest of the converting process can resume and these corrupted models don’t interrupt other 3D models to be converted.
If converting of 3D floorplan model fails, you’ll get “ERROR” response in 3D Wayfinder Administration:

Other reasons, that 3D files couldn’t be converted are mainly caused by using non-UTF characters in mesh names.

Our office was really crowded last week when we had visitors from Tartu Art School. More than 20 people who have just started their studies to become 3D modellers.

Tartu Art School is the only school in Estonia that teaches 3D modelling and visualization as a vocation. As a part of their curriculum the students visit different companies to see how their skills could be used in the future.

Since 3D models have such a big part in our work, it is also important for us to introduce our company to potential future employees or users of our app.

So we talked about what we do and how we do it and how students could use our product. 3D Wayfinder is currently used for mostly way-finding applications. But that doesn’t mean it couldn’t be used in variety of cases. It’s also perfect for presenting architectural models or – why not – make a virtual art gallery.

It is interesting and useful for us to see what kind of applications the students can find for 3D Wayfinder. So we can make it more flexible and beneficial for a wider range of customers.