Digital wayfinding cures visitor confusion

PRODUCT | Spaceti

PRICE | According to area covered

TARGET | Building owners and facilities managers

CHALLENGE | Humans have needed to find their way around since we first stepped out of the caves to seek food. Since then, we’ve adopted various tools to help us find destinations, locations, and items in our local environments and the wider world. We’ve gradually incorporated local landmarks, the stars, tools like compasses and sextants, to-scale maps, radio waves, and the latest GPS technology into wayfinding.

Though often taken for granted, wayfinding helps a person orientate themselves in their surroundings, provide information at key points, and guides them to their destination. Without it, we quickly become disoriented, which can quickly turn to anxiety, confusion, and frustration. This is not only true of finding your way in a city or foreign country, but within buildings and large facilities as well.

Just as GPS has revolutionised wayfinding and navigation, modern technologies are also transforming how we find our way around office buildings, hospitals, university campuses, and any other large complex. Digital wayfinding relies on a network of sensors and the Internet of Things to create a digital workplace environment that goes beyond simple navigation from points A-to-B to provide crucial information about occupancy, control the environment, create new communication channels, increase safety, and present building managers with a wealth of data that can be used to improve services.

SOLUTION | Spaceti is a Prague-based firm dedicated to making digital workplaces an everyday reality.

Its simple system is based on deploying its Smart Stone sensors within a facility and connecting them to a web-based and mobile phone app that serves as an interface for both occupants and building managers.

Visitors or occupiers have to download the app but it’s quite easy through QR code which enables an option to use the app in a limited visitor mode and navigate the building.

Beyond creating a network used to navigate the facility, Spaceti’s Stones collect data about a room’s occupancy, the temperature and humidity, as well as the presence of hazardous compounds. Sensors placed on chairs can pinpoint open work spaces and guide people to them quickly, increasing efficiency.

OUTCOMES | Besides cutting the time it takes to find open spaces or important locations like bathrooms and printers, the digital workplace created by Spaceti also boosts security and safety. The app serves to inform occupants about emergencies and help them find the nearest escape route. Also, the platform creates a communication channel for people to report issues to building staff and a workflow system that assigns the most relevant employees to the task.

Spaceti’s digitalisation of facilities is not just for offices, but can be extremely helpful on university campuses and hospitals as well. The system helps guide visitors, students, and patients to their desired location, helping them find where they need to go.

Clients include Cushman & Wakefield, Zalando, Skanska, Škoda.