SMH First Hospital in U.S. to Deploy Geomagnetic Indoor Positioning System Powered by the Earth
The new "SMH Wayfinder" app uses a smartphone compass and the hospital's magnetic footprint to help visitors navigate its multi-tower campus.
May 18, 2017, 09:37 ET
SARASOTA, Fla., May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Sarasota Memorial Health Care System, in conjunction with technology innovators LogicJunction and IndoorAtlas, became the first hospital in the United States to deploy an indoor wayfinding app that uses geomagnetic positioning technology.
Unlike GPS systems that rely on satellite signals and do not work indoors, the southwest Florida hospital's "SMH Wayfinder" app uses the digital compass and sensors inside smart phones and the magnetic footprint found inside buildings to help people pinpoint their exact location indoors and easily find their way around the multi-level towers on its 1.5 million square-foot main campus.
The indoor navigation app is the latest in a series of innovations Sarasota Memorial has implemented to help patients and visitors more easily access and navigate its network of services and facilities.
"We still have all the traditional ways to help people navigate our facilities – signage, color-coded landmarks, even personal greeters who walk patients to their destination," said Sarasota Memorial Chief Executive Officer David Verinder. "But as technology evolves and improves, this is another tool we can offer to ease anxiety and help people get to where they need to go."
The SMH Wayfinder app, a free download for both Apple and Android users, provides GPS-like turn-by-turn directions with indoor positioning accuracy of three to five feet. The app has an intuitive menu with written directions and other user-friendly features, including:
- Blue dot guidance that shows your exact location on an animated path and plots the best route to your destination on an interactive map.
- Landmark references on each floor.
- Automatic re-routing if you go off track, or if an area or elevator is closed for maintenance.
- Location-based notifications with information about your surroundings, such as cafeteria hours.
SMH piloted several indoor navigation systems before choosing the geomagnetic technology-based solution, which offers precise positioning with considerably less infrastructure and hardware needs than Wi-Fi and Bluetooth systems. Bluetooth and Wi-Fi positioning systems rely on radio signals from hardware installed in buildings, while geomagnetic positioning relies on the Earth's magnetic fields and the unique signals created when they pass through a building. The SMH app also leverages existing beacons and Wi-Fi access points to further improve accuracy.
Developed by Cleveland-based software company LogicJunction in partnership with IndoorAtlas, a global leader in geomagnetic indoor positioning based in Finland, SMH Wayfinder offers an innovative approach to wayfinding and successful model for hospitals worldwide, a representative from the companies said.
"Sarasota Memorial has been a partner of LogicJunction since 2011 and we are thrilled to launch this new mobile product together," said LogicJunction Chief Operating Officer Mike Drozda. "The effort SMH has put into the project, and the expertise they have shared, is a testament to the hospital's commitment to providing a superior patient experience."
The newly launched mobile app builds upon the navigational structure of LogicJunction's kiosk and responsive web solutions.
In recent years, SMH also worked with LogicJunction to install touchscreen kiosks in its lobbies to help direct people to various locations and points of interest on its main campus. Visitors can print, email or text themselves maps and directions directly from the kiosk. The health system also developed an informational app to help people locate SMH doctors and services throughout the region, as well as personal health apps to help women track pregnancy milestones and allow clinicians to monitor heart failure and diabetes patients at home.
For More Information
To download SMH Wayfinder from the app store, or watch a video demonstrating how SMH Wayfinder works, visit smh.com/smhwayfinder.
About Sarasota Memorial Health Care System
Sarasota Memorial Health Care System is one of America's largest public health systems offering Southwest Florida's greatest breadth and depth of care, with more than 900,000 patient visits a year. Sarasota Memorial Hospital, the system's flagship 829-bed acute care hospital, has been recognized consistently as one of the nation's safest and best, with superior patient outcomes and complete continuum of outpatient services – from urgent-care clinics and physician groups, laboratory and diagnostic imaging centers, to home health and skilled nursing and rehabilitation. For more information, visit: www.smh.com
About LogicJunction
LogicJunction is a Cleveland-based software company specializing in Digital Wayfinding Solutions. Offering easy-to-follow directions and smart-routing logic, world-class hospitals use LogicJunction's systems to improve indoor navigation and optimize patient experience via mobile app, web or kiosk-based wayfinding. LogicJunction's strategic partnership with IndoorAtlas, a global Platform-as-a-Service leader, further enhances their mobile offering by including geomagnetic-based indoor positioning, which uses the Earth's magnetic fields to pinpoint a person's position within 5 feet. This scalable and cost-saving technology can also interpret Wi-Fi and BLE data, and is available as native Apps for Android and iOS. For information, visit: www.logicjunction.com
SOURCE LogicJunction