Qualitative study of the incompatibility of indoor map file formats with location software applications

Abstract

Indoor maps, and therefore the indoor map data and software that uses them, are used by architects, designers and planners, those in public safety and emergency response, facilities management and even advertising. Presently, the wide range of commonly-used formats for generating indoor maps means that many who would use indoor map applications either must convert indoor map data to another format or re-create the map, which can be time-consuming, costly, and even result in a flawed map. Because the problem is not recognized widely, the benefits that would come from solving it are not widely considered, and so indoor-map related software is not evolving rapidly.