Researchers from our Geography department have developed SoleWay, an app for indoor navigation in public buildings without the use of any tracking device. The researchers are calling on the public to add routes in all kind of public buildings to the app.
SoleWay, which stands for “the sole solution to find your way indoors”, is user-generated along the same principle as the non-profit encyclopaedia Wikipedia. Ghent University points out that a GPS brings visitors to the entrance of a stadium, but once inside it stays difficult to find one’s way around.
Today, SoleWay helps people find their seats, drinks, fan shop and toilets in large stadiums. In the future, SoleWay could even show you your seat by simply scanning your ticket. Anyway, a better understanding of a building results in less queuing up, more comfort, more fun and more safety for visitors. Users are also asked to “like” the best route descriptions and correct mistakes. “We are counting on the ‘wisdom of the crowd’,” says Prof. Dr. Nico Van de Weghe.
“The final goal of SoleWay is to provide a user-friendly application that can be used worldwide for indoor navigation, especially in sports stadiums.”