SEOUL, South Korea & LINKÖPING, Sweden--(BUSINESS WIRE)--SenionLab, creators of the world’s most powerful indoor positioning systems, today announced its role in an innovative indoor mapping program in Seoul, South Korea.
The South Korean capital has introduced 3D indoor map services, supported both on the Web and mobile devices, for many of the city’s facilities. The indoor mapping program features realistic maps that help people step-by-step navigate 107 locations encompassing more than 1.1 million square meters, including the city’s subways and government office buildings. City officials said additional maps will be forthcoming for museums, art galleries and more.
SenionLab’s role in the project involved collaborating with city officials and Virtual Builders Co. on a beacon-based positioning service for the Seoul Citizen Hall, a massive public structure near the City Hall. The three entities developed an app, “Looking around Seoul Citizen Hall,” that allows users to identify their current location and access real-time and simulated path guidance throughout the building. The service provides information on events, venues and the location of amenities within the building, such as restrooms or baby nursing facilities. The service uses Internet of Things (IoT) positioning beacons in conjunction with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth technologies.
The city has high hopes for its new mapping technology, including creating jobs for young people. “Expansion like this is a positive step toward creating new jobs, and plays a crucial role in attracting domestic and foreign tourists, promoting small enterprise, and assisting the general public’s convenience and welfare,” said Choi YeongHoon, Seoul City Information Planning Officer.
The job creation portion will be the result of releasing the code to app developers. The new 3D indoor maps and their source data are being released to the public by Seoul City Indoor Map Service and Seoul Open Data Plaza. With the information available to the public, the government hopes to allow for diverse portal maps such as Naver Map, Daum Kakao Map and Google Maps to cooperate and foster more private usage of the services. It will also be the first step toward integration with additional applications that will reach audiences from the disabled and gamers to first responders, security personnel and more. The map service is being released as OPEN API.
“The work we’re doing in Seoul is an important prototype for other cities around the globe,” said Christian Lundquist, SenionLab Co-founder and CEO. “Making their city and public buildings more accessible to both residents and visitors through a free smartphone app, and then encouraging developers to build supplemental, integrated services based on the mapping technology shows true vision among Seoul’s public officials.”
In addition to the Citizens Hall project, the maps also help users navigate the Seoul City Government Office, the Seoul Library and more than 105 subway stations.
The “Seoul City Indoor Map Service” app is free and available now on Google Play; and iOS version will be available on July 31.
About SenionLab
SenionLab is a global leader in indoor positioning solutions, bringing a seamless, responsive, and consumer-friendly foundation for location-based services applications. SenionLab’s comprehensive IPS services include analytics, wayfinding, geofencing, friend finder and tracking. SenionLab has more than 250 IPS installations globally in shopping malls, hospitals, event venues, industrial buildings, and more. SenionLab is headquartered in Linkoping, Sweden. Find us on the web at www.senionlab.com, on Twitter @SenionLab and on LinkedIn at SenionLab.
