Tag: shopping center wayfinder

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.

Shopping mall “Eeden” in Tartu has just got a new look with some new 9000m2 of shopping area. After rebuilding the mall three wayfinding kiosks were also placed. We were happy to deliver them a beautiful and simple wayfinding software.

Lately we had opportunity to develop a wayfinding software to a mall that had just gone thru renovation process. Considering that before the adding the extension it was rather a small shopping center with just 18 000 m2 of total area. After adding another 9000 m2 of commercial area. Including new entertainment opportunities like cinema and bowling alley. It was essential to make sure that their costumers will find their desired location. Old shops are in new places. New shops have been advertised but neither the old or new clients know where to find them. We were happy to help them out and make wayfinding fun and easy.

Our opinion is that every mall deserves a wayfinding software to make sure that their costumers are happy and that they have a chance to discover different possibilities in the mall.

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.

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.

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.

Some of our customers prefer a “Welcome” screen for their wayfinding application. Welcome screens are good way for inviting visitors to use wayfinding, it is also a page where you can show advertisements or welcome text. To minimize the load for kiosks we change the frame-rate of our WebGL rendering engine FRAK. 

Welcome page is configur as an idle-page, when no one is using wayfinding. Usually it is set to 10+ seconds after idle time, when the welcome screen is displayed. On this view, we are hiding wayfinder map component and directory. When visitor starts to use wayfinding, then welcome screen close and floor plans with directory are activate. Certainly, the welcome screen is also helpful for customers to understand what the screen is about. Also a great way to advertise for businesses located in the mall.

To save the kiosk pc and graphics card (GPU) we set the 3D rendering (see FRAK WebGL engine) also idle. This is important for limiting the frame-rate to a minimum. Frame rate change can be invoke with Engine.startIdle(fps) and return to normal operation with Engine.stopIdle(). See 3D Wayfinder API for specific documentation.

We have also fixed a bug in SmoothOrbitController that made animations oscillate on very low frame rates.