Nokia working on 3D indoor mapping

So Google Maps recently received an update that brought it up to version 6.0. With this update came with the ability for Google Maps to work indoors by bringing indoor maps to the user, allowing them to navigate within a shopping mall. Not to be outdone, it appears that Nokia has something similar in the works except instead of a floor layout, their maps will be in 3D.

While floor layouts are good, they aren’t as detailed as a 3D layout, which is what Nokia has planned. It will use Bluetooth 4.0 on your phone or on a tag, along with locator equipment installed in the ceilings to help a create 3D map of a venue that Nokia claims is accurate up to 21cm.

The possibilities here are many, for starters it can be used to help guide a user all the way from the highway right up to the 10th floor in an apartment building and straight to the unit itself. It can also be used for gaming and to a certain extent even security purposes. For example store owners could attach these tags onto products, so even if someone were to run off without paying, mall security could track them down within the building itself, leaving shoplifters with no where to hide.

This remains a prototype/concept for now although Nokia has plans to get this technology standardized with the Bluetooth SIG so that it can be put into consumer products by 2013. While the technology is great and interesting, we’ll have to wonder if people will be willing to install the locator equipment in their buildings or homes. Check out the video below for a demonstration.

Tyler Lee
Categories: Concepts
Tags: bluetooth 4.0, GPS, maps, Nokia