Have you seen the FastMall app? It’s raison d’etre is to map the insides of shopping malls in the same way that geolocation apps and Google Maps allow you to find your way around outside. With FastMall and other indoor map apps like Micello and PointInside, finding a restroom, elevator or even a particular retailer is a breeze with functions for directions and search built-in.
FastMall doens’t have many Australian malls mapped yet – a search for Chatswood in Sydney only preferred Chadstone in Melbourne – but more venues are being added all the time, most from maps provided in the public domain such as on shopping mall websites. And the breadth of venues is also sure to expand, with hospitals, casinos, stadia, university campuses, theme parks, zoos and shopping districts in the sights of indoor mapping app developers.
There’s even a supermarket app called aisle441 due to launch in coming weeks that will allow you to search products and then give you directions to the correct aisle with 90 per cent accuracy, according to developers.
Google Street View will also be launching indoor functionality in the near future – they’ve been sending photographers to Sydney venues since early in the year.
