Google maps help travelers find their way inside Broward airport

Dec. 05--If you like Google maps downloaded from your computer and a GPS device to guide you in your car, you'll love the newest place for electronic maps -- indoors.

Google has launched an indoor mapping program to guide people around airport terminals, shopping centers and any large space with a roof that blocks satellite signals.

Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport is one of the first 18 airports in the United States to be included in the new program. Ikea, Macy's, Home Depot and Bloomingdale's plan to offer it in their large stores as well.

Instead of using satellite signals to map location, this system uses WiFi -- wireless Internet signals -- inside a building to detect where you are and what's around you.

For now, it requires an Android 2.2 or above device, with Google maps for mobile version 6.0 or above. Google says it will be expanded to other types of phones. It also requires having the WiFi function on the phone turned on. But it does not require downloading a specific application.

Fort Lauderdale airport spokesman Greg Meyers says the information is public and is no cause for security concerns. It does not show secure areas of the airport not open to the public such as ramps or baggage handling areas.

Six Google map experts spent days scouring the airport to make sure they had every detail recorded correctly.

Because they use WiFi signals instead of satellites, the maps are a bit slower than one used in the car. The various WiFi transponders detect where a person is at the airport, including the correct floor.

Showing the system on his own phone, Meyers walked around Terminal 3. A little blue triangle pointed the walking direction, identifying the stores and restaurants -- by name -- and locating restrooms, ticket counters, escalators, exits and emergency defibrillators he passed by. He could zoom in or out to encompass the entire terminal or narrow in to the smallest little kiosk.

"We felt in the long run that this really was a beneficial tool that complements other things we are doing," Meyers said. "It's certainly one more thing we can add to passengers if they do have the right equipment and technical savvy."

Robert Lyle is a reporter for WLRN-Herald News on 91.3 FM.

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