Scout is a wayfinding & parking IoT solution designed to address wayfinding problems that exist in modern-day shopping centres.
Technologies such as ticketless parking, parking availability sensors and Interactive information kiosks are now widely in use, however, they are not being utilized to their full potential for problem-solving as wayfinding remains to be stressful in modern-day shopping centres.
With the proper and respectful use of technology and data, the experience can be painless and inclusive.
Situations where the user may not want to provide location permissions due to privacy need to be considered. Although Scout is an IoT solution, at a bare minimum, the wayfinding features should still work without location data from the user.
To identify where the user is currently, Scout prompts the user to input the name of the nearest shop or landmark into the shopping mall map as a starting point, once established, users can input their desired destination.
Using the relative position gathered, the app will mark stores or landmarks en route to the destination as references, showing images and instructions on the way to guide the user without location services.
This approach not only eliminates the need for location data but also enables users to check routes ahead of time, from their planned parking area, without being physically at the shopping mall.