With over 19,000m² of pillar-less exhibition space being occupied by the latest global traffic technologies at this week’s Intelligent Transportation Systems World Congress (ITSWC), the organizers have commissioned a smartphone app to help the 7,000 international delegates navigate around the event sites.
ITS Australia has engaged an official mobile app partner, global location cloud company Here, to introduce delegates to world-first technology with the development of the World Congress app.
The application will allow delegates to experience advanced location enabled services, such as indoor routing, so they can search for an exact plenary room or exhibitor booth and be guided from their hotel, another ITS venue or anywhere in the city of Melbourne. The ITSWC app will give delegates access to live journey planning with indoor and outdoor routing to a range of points of interest, including local attractions, ATMs, venue facilities, transport options and cafes.
Here developed the custom built ITS venue map by converting event floor plans into a digital 3D format. User’s mobiles then respond to wi-fi and beacon technology that has been installed within the venues to enable precise indoor positioning and navigation. With additional features such as the ability for delegates to send each other messages, engage with presenters through live polling and discussions, and share insights with external audiences through social media channels, the app is set to create a holistic approach to the event and dovetail into the whole purpose of the week. Delegates can download the app by searching for ‘ITS World Congress 2016’ in their provider’s app store.
“It’s only fitting that when the world’s leaders in transport and logistics come together at ITS World Congress 2016, they will get to experience the most advanced 3D venue map and indoor navigation application ever deployed for an event of this scale,” commented Here’s Asia-Pacific director, Brent Stafford.
“It’s a huge milestone for Here and a great achievement for ITS. It’s truly three-dimensional navigation, transitioning from GPS positioning outdoors to indoor routing within the venue, and switching levels as users move up or down staircases, lifts and elevators, for a seamless experience. Common everyday mapping apps typically provide a separate user experience for indoor maps and then outdoor maps. This is the first time a truly seamless multimodal indoor-outdoor 3D map and navigation platform has been deployed with such level of detail. The World Congress app is really giving delegates a first-hand experience of the real-time smart city technologies that will enable tourists and citizens to navigate the cities of the future.”
Susan Harris, CEO of ITS Australia, said, “With over 7,000 delegates set to embark on the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre and our partner venues over the week, to be able to accurately navigate their way to different sessions and exhibitions, while also having an understanding of their real-time environs, will be hugely beneficial for our delegates. As a Congress focused on demonstrating the latest technology in traffic and transport, why wouldn’t we want to create an app to match!”
