Google Maps Takes Indoor Mapping Project to the UK

By Jane McEntegart
published

Google Maps for Android now helps you navigate UK department stores, too.

Google Maps has become a massively useful tool for when we're visiting new cities, driving through an unfamiliar part of town or trying to find the nearest subway station. However, the tool has always been more of an outdoors thing. Sure, it can tell you where you are on the streets of London or how to get to Westfield Shopping Centre, but you're on your own if you plan to spend the day shopping there. At least, until today, you were.

Back in December of last year, Google launched Google Maps 6.0 for Android, which brought indoor maps to shopping malls and airports in the United States. Now UK users of the application are getting the same treatment, Google today announced.

"You'll no longer need to feel clueless when you're at the railway station, trying to figure out where to buy a coffee before you rush to catch your train from platform 11; nor will you feel embarrassed about asking for the lingerie section when you're in the department store - because you'll have all the answers in the palm of your hand," Google's Razia Ahamed writes.

Ahamed says Google has partnered with more than 40 venues in the UK, including train stations to art galleries, department stores and sporting venues, but any business can upload their maps for future inclusions so expect that number to grow. The project also includes several airports around the UK, including London City airport, London Stansted airport, London Luton Airport, Manchester, Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Birmingham.

Check the full list below:

  • British Museum 
  • National Maritime Museum
  • Harrods 
  • National Theater
  • Victoria Albert Museum
  • Museum of London
  • Natural History Museum
  • Courtauld Gallery
  • National Portrait Gallery
  • Victoria Station
  • Euston Station
  • Kings Cross Station
  • Waterloo Station
  • London Bridge Station
  • Fenchurch Street Station
  • Cannon Street Station
  • Paddington Station
  • Charing Cross Station
  • O2 Arena
  • Wembley Stadium
  • BFI Southbank
  • Barbican
  • Ricoh Arena
  • Somerset House
  • John Lewis*
  • Debenhams*
  • Selfridges*
  • House of Fraser*
  • One New Change Shopping Mall
  • Calbot Circus Shopping Center
  • Liverpool Street Station
  • St Pancras International
  • Peter Jones - Sloan Sq.

*Some locations

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14 Comments Comment from the forums
  • blazorthon
    Keep up the good work there. Not everyone uses it, but I think that Making Maps as good as it can reasonably be is a job worth doing. It most certainly helps me get where I'm going when I don't know the directions myself.
    Reply
  • Awesome for criminals and terrorists.

    Want to rob a store in a mall? Easy! We know exactly where it is and we know where all of the exits are!

    Want to kill a bunch of people in the subway? Easy! You've now got a map of the entire station on your mobile phone!

    Need to rob that Monet from the local art gallery? No problem!


    I may be a little sarcastic, but I think you get my point.
    Reply
  • spookie
    got to get this for my mom! hopefully the shopping wouldn't take so long next time
    Reply
  • jhansonxi
    CoopCoopAwesome for criminals and terrorists.Only lazy ones who don't check their targets out personally.

    I was going to suggest making a tool that can convert indoor map data into a template map for FPS games.
    Reply
  • blazorthon
    CoopCoopAwesome for criminals and terrorists.Want to rob a store in a mall? Easy! We know exactly where it is and we know where all of the exits are!Want to kill a bunch of people in the subway? Easy! You've now got a map of the entire station on your mobile phone!Need to rob that Monet from the local art gallery? No problem!I may be a little sarcastic, but I think you get my point.
    Any criminal that needs Maps to do this is probably not intelligent enough to succeed anyway...
    Reply
  • A Bad Day
    There should be a map for BBC's HQ. I heard that it's one of the most difficult buildings to navigate if you're unfamiliar with the place.

    jhansonxiOnly lazy ones who don't check their targets out personally.I was going to suggest making a tool that can convert indoor map data into a template map for FPS games.
    Converting RL maps to IG maps. Heh, heck yeah!

    Anyone interested in playing L4D2 or BF3 on a Disneyland map?
    Reply
  • kronos_cornelius
    Apple will have a tought time catching up to Google on Map tech

    I hope Walmart embraces this feature. Walmarts are huge now and this would expedite my visits.
    Reply
  • A Bad Day
    kronos_corneliusApple will have a tought time catching up to Google on Map techI hope Walmart embraces this feature. Walmarts are huge now and this would expedite my visits.
    The only problem is that the maps would need to be updated every month or so. Some of the stores change their layouts very frequently just to force customers to walk around longer, thus increasing the chance of them buying extra stuff they didn't plan on beforehand.
    Reply
  • blazorthon
    kronos_corneliusApple will have a tought time catching up to Google on Map techI hope Walmart embraces this feature. Walmarts are huge now and this would expedite my visits.
    ]Like A Bad Day said, I don't think that stores would be an easy thing to keep up with for this.
    Reply
  • house70
    CoopCoopAwesome for criminals and terrorists.Want to rob a store in a mall? Easy! We know exactly where it is and we know where all of the exits are!Want to kill a bunch of people in the subway? Easy! You've now got a map of the entire station on your mobile phone!Need to rob that Monet from the local art gallery? No problem!I may be a little sarcastic, but I think you get my point.No, I don't get your point; you're saying that someone that plans to rob a store in a mall or steal a painting from a museum will rely on this to plan it? I can only pity the fool that tries that.
    Reply