AI-Powered Mapping Technology MapScale Digitizes 10,000 Floor Plans Daily

(US and Canada) As building owners and operators race to digitize buildings in 2022 to enable hybrid work, creating digital maps at scale is among their top priorities. Digital mapping is the foundation for smart buildings, enabling connected experiences for employees, visitors, and building operations.

To date, digital mapping has been manual, expensive, and time-consuming to create. By applying artificial intelligence to mapping data, Pointr, a leader in indoor location technology, has been able to digitize 10000 floor plans on a daily basis across the US.

Pointr's MapScale technology processes billions of sqft of floor space in the form of CAD files and outputs interactive digital maps for mobile and web. The AI is already used by dozens of Fortune 500 customers across the US, including some of the largest tech and retail companies in the world.

AI mapping technology means that it is now possible to digitize large, complex buildings at scale. It is particularly relevant for Fortune 500 companies looking to re-open their workplaces and implement hybrid work. Companies are expected to enable employees to book desks and meeting rooms instantly via an app and check-in as they arrive on campus. This is only possible with accurate and up-to-date digital maps of their campus.

Digital maps for hybrid workplaces

In a recent presentation, experts at CBRE and Microsoft acknowledged that with Pointr's technology, creating real-time digital maps and keeping them up-to-date was a smooth process and a must-have for great workplace experiences.

With digital maps, building owners and operators are taking the first step towards value-added IoT applications. They can:

• Help employees, customers, and visitors find their way to a desk that's available, to the closest meeting room, or to the live location of a colleague
• Give operations teams insight into which areas are over-and under-utilized, allow them to control HVAC systems and lighting, track the efficiency of cleaning journeys and engage with building occupants in real-time using geofencing

"We're excited to bring the power of contextual location services to Fortune 500 customers globally. Our technology answers a pressing need for facility managers who need real-time, updated maps of the buildings. This year, we are mapping 5 billion sqft of commercial real estate with Pointr MapScale. With over 97 billion sqft of commercial real estate to digitize in the US alone, this is just the start of our journey.," said Ege Akpinar, CEO at Pointr.

Maps, powered by AI

The technology works by integrating a digital mapping engine with a building's CAD system. The algorithms intelligently extract map data such as room names, desks, and amenities, and convert this data to digital maps that are available for mobile or web applications. The machine-learning algorithms are able to predict patterns and to suggest changes with 95%+ accuracy when the CAD systems are updated. The digital maps that are produced by the mapping technology are interactive, user-friendly, and available in 2D or 3D. They can connect to any building system through open APIs.