Indoor Navigation is Available in Singapore

Navigation in Singapore just got easier with the launch of indoor maps by Google. Indoor Google Maps is now available in 22 shopping malls in Singapore. Available only on its Android app, users can now launch the Google Maps application and avoid getting lost in one of the many cavernous Singapore malls.

If you disliked Orchard Ion layout and often find yourself retracing your steps as you search for the Zara or the Topshop retail outlets, now you could easily fire up the app to check your current location and find the quickest route over. The interface is intuitive, with the mall levels accessible on the right side of the screen. The app is also able to pick up your approximate location indoors, through WiFi or data triangulation, and largely able to tell which level you are on. It uses a mixture of wifi and GPS signals to determine a user’s whereabouts.

While the technology have been tested for some time since 2011 in other countries, it had not made its way here till now. Indoor maps and triangulation have always been a much anticipated feature and I am glad to see it now available for Singapore Malls. Business owners who are keen to have their floor plans displayed on the service should visit the website here. They will have to upload their floor plans and position it on the map. Hopefully more owners and building management do so quickly as this is a very useful feature.

The 22 shopping malls with indoor maps enabled are:
313@somerset
Century Square
Hougang Mall
ION Orchard
Liang Court
Mandarin Gallery
Marina Bay Sands
Metro (Department store in Paragon)
Ngee Ann City
Orchard Central
Paragon
Parkway Parade
Scotts Square
Suntec City
Takashimaya (Department store in Ngee Ann)
Tampines 1
The Centrepoint
Tiong Bahru Plaza
Triple One
Wheelock Place
White Sands
Wisma Atria

For it to work better, Cedric Dupont, product manager for indoor Google maps, recommends to turn on the handset’s Wi-Fi. It just needs to be turned on, but not necessarily connected to a network. He added that the system had been optimized so that location triangulation consumes as little power as possible.