Azure Maps Creator now available in preview

As enterprises continue to evolve in their digital transformation journey, there is a need for augmenting Azure Maps content with project-specific and private business knowledge of places. Today we're launching Azure Maps Creator in preview to extend location intelligence to indoor spaces.

Enterprises are taking advantage of Azure Maps capabilities to optimize business operations and transform their business strategy using location and map services. With IoT-powered systems delivering new and more accurate data than ever before, defining new patterns for taking advantage of location data findings is essential. Creator includes a new set of capabilities that allow an enterprise to securely create and use indoor maps that dynamically change as new events in spaces occur. The data is not used to improve Azure Maps, customers own and are in full control of the created map content, including defining how to secure access using Azure Maps authentication and authorization options. You can develop solutions for the general public or for selected authenticated users for virtually any indoor space such as offices, stores, factories, and hospitals for facility management, occupant and guest experiences, productivity tools, and more.

Azure Maps provides SDKs to easily build web and mobile applications with location and map services. Creator is fully integrated with existing Azure Maps capabilities. Using the same skill sets and developer tools, solutions can combine indoor maps and analytics with outdoor Azure Maps services for roads, traffic, mobility, weather, and more.

Create indoor maps

You can take advantage of existing data for creating and maintaining indoor maps. During construction or remodeling phases, architecture and engineering work includes floorplan drawings created with computer-aided drawing (CAD) tools. Creator offers a conversion service that enables developers to upload these CAD-based floorplans and convert them into map data which can be further enriched with other details. For example, you can create logical spaces representing areas covered by cameras or with Wi-Fi signal, and add equipment locations to help find printers and fire extinguishers. You can create maps with multiple buildings, like corporate campuses and hospitals, put the buildings in relation to each other using the geographic context, and easily add useful functions such as routing from one building to another.

We envision an ecosystem of partners offering specialized services or complementary technology making it easier to gather and process useful indoor map data. One of the partners that is an early adopter of the Creator capability is Archidata . Archidata has 25 years of experience in developing tools and processes for upgrading architectural documents to allow its real estate clients to evolve at the same pace as technology easily and inexpensively. Archidata has developed the capability to...