Google Maps Indoors

With the release of Google Maps 6.0 for Android devices, the search giant's comprehensive cartography app now features floor plans for the insides of buildings.

Places like the Mall of America and the Narita International Airport in Japan show individual rooms, shops, toilets and areas of interest. It also accounts for multiple storey buildings, with a floor selector column on the right.

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Detailed floor plans automatically appear when you're viewing the map and zoomed in on a building where indoor map data is available. Then, the Google Maps dot will show your location within a few metres. You can use search to find stuff, and Google Latitude to find friends.

GPS is notoriously spotty when indoors. That's why Google uses back-up data from other sources. "We don't only use GPS for the indoor location feature," a spokesperson for Google. "As with My Location for outdoor spaces, we use data from various components including cellular tower, GPS and publicly broadcast Wi-Fi information, to estimate a location indoors."

Similar technology is used to automatically detect your altitude, and figure out what floor you're standing on. "The phone's ability to measure Wi-Fi signals is important for determining details like floor level," the spokeswoman told us.

Right now a few retailers, airports and transit stations in the United States and Japan have had their innards mapped. This includes a bunch of Ikea and Macy's stores across the US, and the Roppongi Hills mega-complex in Tokyo. More public buildings across the world will be added all the time.

If you're a business owner, on the other hand, and want your location's floor plan included on Google Maps, the company has created a swanky upload wizard over at its Floor Plans site. All you have to do is find your shop on Google Maps, upload the blueprints and then line-up the edges.

For the time being, this feature is only available on Android phones. Restless iPhone users will have to stay restless, as a Google spokeswoman told the LA Times that there is no specific timing for when indoor maps will be available for non-Android platforms.

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