Google Indoor Maps - First Experience.

[Briggs]

Hello LGC,

Happy May! I've been pretty ecstatic as a local guide for the past four months or so. I've been wanting to broaden my scope and contributions by adapting and creating indoor maps for certain commercial centres I've frequented that don't have one yet. While waiting for May's "Introduce Yourself" thread to consolidate itself as an official thread (at the moment there are two), I figured I would post about my current progress so far in regards to creating an indoor map.

The Ponds Shopping Centre (-33.7060077,150.9117104)The Shopping Complex in Google Maps (Current)

At the moment the shopping centre currently seems to be a little bit of a mess. Doing a little bit of map marker edits to distribute the stores to their estimated respective locations as per personal experience and a centre floor plan that's slightly not to scale doesn't really seem to cut it completely. So I decided to look into the Indoor Maps Help pages and see what I could do. Of course the only slight mishap that could garner scrutiny is this upload requirement:

• Have all necessary rights, permissions, and/or licenses to create or upload your content including any applicable intellectual property, survey, and building rights. 

I figured okay. Well if there is a map that I can take a picture of on premises or information to be used on their websites and ensuring that I am not directly modifying their data in accordance with their privacy policy, I should be okay. So instead, I decided to build a floor plan out of scratch in reference to the centre's existing material, as well as what I can observe in Google Maps.

Procedure
1. The first step is to find and segregate the polygon in question. Here it is attached below. Note that there isn't a default option in the existing Google Maps API for non-satellite view as far as I know:

The Shopping Complex, in all it's bareness. Slightly rotated to make it easier to work with. 2. Using a combination of personal knowledge, observations and with the assistance of a floorplan (recommended) or otherwise, start building the floorplan. Now I didn't have the Beta floor plan maker program or knew that it existed (does it?), so instead I used my trusty Adobe Photoshop/Illustrator programs. It would also be beneficial to overlay the existing satellite image while creating the floorplan too. Note that it won't be perfect because you'll be dealing with a constructed polygon too, so you'll be making estimates.

The Shopping Complex with a built floorplan.

3. Finally, to assist the Google review team to verifying and making your edit official, refer to an existing indoor map to add labels such as amenities, lifts, escalators and colour in each of the smaller polygons in retrospect to their business category.The Shopping Complex, colour-coded. (I still don't understand the colours)

And that pretty much sums it up. I'm hoping that this will be successfully verified and added to Google maps so eventually I'll be able to move all the businesses around to their rightful spots, as well as add that peculiar Modi Khanna grocery store that keeps on getting instantly rejected. I'll keep this post updated in the interim.

Thanks ya'll.

[LucioV]

Hi @Briggs nice work.

But, i have to tell you, the correct approach for indoor mapping is to contact owner/manager of the mall, then obtain from him or work along with on plans, then upload to Google Indoor Maps.

Please, let us know how will be this ending (hope happily for you and for all the users that will enjoy this informational layer on the mall!).

Lucio

[Briggs]

Appreciate the advice @LucioV. The owner/property manager seems to have quite a few of their other retail precincts nicely adorned with indoor maps/floor plans as well, mostly due to the fact that they're quite larger in size and a bit more challenging to navigate through.

The group had been contacted as I worked on the floor plan and am now waiting for their response. Will keep this updated. Cheers!

[Andras_H]

Hi @Briggs, thanks for your experience, great job!

Actually I have just started an indoor project in my location - now I am waiting for the owner's approval. I do have already the floor plans, because they were also available for the public.

I am curious, if this will work, then I have a couple of huge malls which needs to be done 🙂

How many days were needed for the review by Google?

thanks!

[Flash · Accepted solution]

Hello all,

Please remember that being available for you to view does not in any way equal one having the rights to use the material in their own creations.

The requirement for Indoor Mapping that you have all rights to use the material includes that in order to use a map of the mall to assist you, you must have been granted all rights to reproduce that map.

Such things are covered by copyright, and cannot contribute in any way to what you are going to submit to Google.  The same applies when you directly edit Maps or provide feedback; you must not use third party resources nor other maps of any kind.

For those producing a map of the mall without using such resource, but rather just your personal knowledge and the aerials, wow!  Great work and congrats on improving the map.

[Andras_H]

Hi @Flash, thanks for the reminder.

I know that - as I wrote I am waiting for the owner's approval.

[Briggs]

Here's an update.

Got a response from the shopping centre's property investment manager. They had advised they were in the process of undertaking a response to determine an overall strategy across their portfolio and will work closely with their Digital Technology team to find a solution.

Slightly disheartening but it's good to know we've went through the appropriate avenues to get things done right. Guess I'll hold off uploading and just continue on with my regular programme. Hoping for more functionalities in Google Maps to be implemented, such as mapmaker functions, polygon editing, 3D modelling and such!

[LucioV]

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@BriggsS wrote:

Here's an update.

Got a response from the shopping centre's property investment manager. They had advised they were in the process of undertaking a response to determine an overall strategy across their portfolio and will work closely with their Digital Technology team to find a solution.

Typical answer: they discovered a new tool thanks to you, so they have involved their digital agency, and in the next year or more, nothing will be done for indoor mapping 🙂

[Flash]

That's a shame as you were doing everything right to get this done without violating any rules; but the good news is you'll probably see the end goal soon.  Advertising themselves well and efficiently is what allows the mall to be able to charge higher rents; so they will usually seize on such an oppurtunity once they learn about it.  When you see the indoor mapping go live for this mall you can know this was due to your initial work.

[RohitSadana]

Gud info thanks