"Location is the new cookie," says Simon Thompson of Esri, referencing the software in a browser that tracks the websites people visit. Meet the new apps making it happen.
With a new app called Indoor Atlas, "anyone can use a smartphone’s compass to navigate the interior," writes Quentin Hardy. The new app will bring about the probably overdue convergence of location technology and crowdsourcing in indoor settings. In fact, says Hardy, "our indoor lives will be mapped much as street addresses are today, challenging both conventional business practices and human intimacy."
"A Finnish company called IndoorAtlas has figured out that all buildings have a unique magnetic 'fingerprint' — and has solved how to use that to determine locations inside a structure to within six feet. That is enough to take a consumer to a product in a crowded supermarket, or figure out the location of, say, a half-dozen workers in a building full of them. It’s also much better than cell phone towers can do."
Here's how a savvy marketer could use the app: "IndoorAtlas has enjoyed some success selling the service to stores in Finland. In at least one case, shoppers can load their week’s shopping into their phones, and get interior directions about where every product is located, and how to efficiently walk through the store to get everything."
The article compares the technology to that of OpenStreetMap—a favorite among planners—and predicts an eventual integration of interior and exterior location technologies. "Maps of building interiors, combining the visual logs of OpenSteetMap and the magnetic fingerprints, seem like something that could be easily cobbled together. At that point, a person could get directions that extend all the way to how to walk right to a person’s cubicle."
Hardy mentions two other technologies that might help lead the revolution: Urban Engines and Euclid Analytics.
FULL STORY: Mapping Our Interiors
Coming Soon to Ohio: The Largest Agrivoltaic Farm in the US
The ambitious 6,000-acre project will combine an 800-watt solar farm with crop and livestock production.
Pennsylvania Mall Conversion Bill Passes House
If passed, the bill would promote the adaptive reuse of defunct commercial buildings.
U.S. Supreme Court: California's Impact Fees May Violate Takings Clause
A California property owner took El Dorado County to state court after paying a traffic impact fee he felt was exorbitant. He lost in trial court, appellate court, and the California Supreme Court denied review. Then the U.S. Supreme Court acted.
Dallas Surburb Bans New Airbnbs
Plano’s city council banned all new permits for short-term rentals as concerns about their impacts on housing costs grow.
Divvy Introduces E-Bike Charging Docks
New, circular docks let e-bikes charge at stations, eliminating the need for frequent battery swaps.
How Freeway Projects Impact Climate Resilience
In addition to displacement and public health impacts, highway expansions can also make communities less resilient to flooding and other climate-related disasters.
City of Costa Mesa
Licking County
Barrett Planning Group LLC
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Tufts University, Department of Urban and Environmental Policy & Planning
City of Universal City TX
ULI Northwest Arkansas
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.