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Are you envisioning the next Pokemon GO – but for indoors?

Do you have a great idea of the next Pokemon GO style game, but for both outdoors and indoors? Coming up with a killer idea is still relatively easy compared to actually making things real. When it comes to apps and games which try to manage topics like: real world maps, 3D rendering, outdoor and indoor locations – you can easily get in a little over your head. But fear not, services and libraries exist that take care most of those complexities so that you can turn your dream game into a reality!

Indoor Positioning

We at IndoorAtlas handle the indoor positioning part of this challenge. We give you the tools that allow you to:

  • Setup your indoor world where your game takes place. Use our web portal.
  • Map those venues for positioning (also known as fingerprinting). Use our MapCreator2 for Android application.
  • Develop with the tools that make sense for games. Use our Unity Plugin for IndoorAtlas.

Once correctly deployed, our SDKs and Plugins can pinpoint your players with 1-2 meter accuracy!

3D Maps and 3D Object Rendering

We have the indoor positioning part covered but you still need to create a user interface for your game that rocks! You could go with the standard, platform provided maps or satellite images but we all know that does not make an appealing UX when it comes to games. GO Map is a Unity Asset that focuses on making it real easy to create 3D location based games using Unity. All map customizations can be done directly from the Unity Inspector.

The author has recently  published an article where he announces built in support for IndoorAtlas. A 3D game development for indoors does not get any easier than that!

The steps you should take

  1. Register as an developer with IndoorAtlas. You can develop and test with IndoorAtlas without cost or entering your credit card details.
  2. Select a test venue for your app and map it using IndoorAtlas MapCreator2 for Android. Follow our documentation on how to do it.
  3. Acquire your GO Map license from Unity Asset Store.
  4. Follow the GO Map instructions in this article.

NOTE

IndoorAtlas does not provide 3D interior maps. This exercise is left to you as 3D game developer.

Best,
Jukka Raanamo
SVP Product Management