Indoor wayfinding glossary
These are the 40 terms you will meet when you buy, build or run indoor wayfinding: drawing formats, map data, routes, kiosks, positioning and live operations. Each has a one-sentence definition, a few lines on how it works in practice, and a link to the page that covers it in depth.
Last updated
From drawing to screen: where each term turns up.
A wayfinding project moves along one line. The architect’s drawing becomes map data, the map data gets a route network, a release decides what visitors see, and the live layer changes things on the day. Tap a term to jump to it.
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Release
What visitors are allowed to see
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Screens
Where visitors meet the map
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Live layer
What changes without a new release
Seven pairs people mix up.
| These two | The difference |
|---|---|
| Digital wayfinding and Indoor navigation | Wayfinding is everything that helps people find their way, printed signs included. Indoor navigation usually means turn-by-turn guidance that follows a phone. A kiosk gives directions without tracking anyone. |
| Indoor positioning system and Blue dot | Positioning is the system that estimates where someone is. The blue dot is how a map shows it. Kiosk wayfinding needs neither. |
| DWG and DXF | The same drawing in two files. DWG is AutoCAD’s own binary format; DXF is the documented exchange format other software reads. Saving as DXF gives the cleanest import. |
| GeoJSON and IMDF | GeoJSON is a general file format for geographic features. IMDF is a rulebook for indoor maps written in GeoJSON: which files, which features and which properties. |
| Step-free route and Accessible route | Step-free is one condition: no stairs or escalators. An accessible route must also meet the widths, slopes and door rules in your building standard. |
| Release and rollback and Live closure | A release changes the map itself and can go through review. A closure sits on top of the live release and reaches screens in seconds, without a new release. |
| Directory board and Interactive directory kiosk | A directory board is display-only and scrolls by itself. A kiosk takes touch, searches and gives directions from where it stands. |
Terms beginning with A
Accessible route
An accessible route is a continuous path that a wheelchair user can follow from start to finish: no steps, with widths, slopes, doors and surfaces that meet the building standard.
The building provides the widths and slopes; the map can only route along what is there. DigiMaps handles the map side with routing profiles, and the hospital life-safety profile refuses to publish a map where any point lacks an accessible route to an accessible exit.
Accessible routing in DigiMaps
See also Step-free route Routing profile
Air-gapped deployment
An air-gapped deployment runs on a network that has no connection to the internet at all.
DigiMaps Server can run this way: no outbound calls by default, AI features off by default, map fonts bundled, and updates delivered as an offline bundle. Kiosks on the site network keep working from the cached release.
Running DigiMaps on your own server
See also On-premises deployment
Attract screen
attract loop
An attract screen is what a kiosk shows while nobody is using it, there to invite the next person to touch it.
The DigiMaps attract screen shows a slow orbit of the venue, a signage slot and the call to action in every venue language at once, with one start button per language and an Accessible mode button. Live notices and emergencies are drawn on top of it.
Terms beginning with B
BLE beacon
A BLE beacon is a small battery-powered transmitter that broadcasts a Bluetooth Low Energy signal, which a phone can measure to estimate where it is.
Beacons need a site survey, calibration and battery changes. Browsers on iPhone cannot read Bluetooth, so beacon positioning on iPhone needs a native app. Kiosk wayfinding in DigiMaps needs no beacons.
Do you need beacons for indoor wayfinding?
See also RSSI fingerprinting Blue dot
Blue dot
The blue dot is the moving marker that shows a visitor where they are on the map as they walk.
Outdoors it comes from GPS; indoors it needs an indoor positioning system. DigiMaps only lets a dot drive turn-by-turn guidance when the fix is map-matched, on a known floor and reports 3 m or better (2 m in the hospital profile). Phone positioning is offered as a commissioned pilot, with the accuracy measured on your site.
See also Indoor positioning system Map matching “You are here” origin
Terms beginning with D
Digital signage playlist
A signage playlist is a scheduled sequence of slides, such as pictures, videos, text and web pages, that plays on a screen.
DigiMaps kiosks play one when nobody is using them: five slide types, durations from 3 seconds to 10 minutes, five dayparts, targeting by zone or kiosk, and proof of play.
Maps and notices on signage screens
See also Attract screen Directory board
Digital wayfinding
Digital wayfinding is the use of screens and software, on kiosks, phones, signage and websites, to help people find their way around a building or site.
It works alongside fixed signs rather than replacing them. The software usually has two halves: a tool where staff author the map, and the app visitors use. In DigiMaps those are Studio and the Wayfinder.
Directory board
A directory board is a display-only list of the places in a building, grouped by floor or by category.
The DigiMaps directory board page runs on signage players. It scrolls by itself, shows up to three languages side by side, carries live notices and the emergency takeover, and lists public places only.
Directory boards for signage players
See also Interactive directory kiosk Digital signage playlist
DWG
DWG is AutoCAD’s native drawing file, the format most architectural floor plans are kept in.
It is a proprietary binary format, so most tools convert it before reading it. DigiMaps can convert DWG on a server that has the ODA File Converter installed, but saving each floor as DXF in AutoCAD is the more reliable route.
DXF
Drawing Exchange Format
DXF is a CAD file format that Autodesk documents publicly, so drawings can move between different CAD programs.
It is the most reliable route into DigiMaps. Studio reads walls, doors and room text from the layers natively, with no AI involved, so it works on-premises and on air-gapped sites.
See also DWG
Terms beginning with E
Emergency takeover
emergency mode
An emergency takeover replaces everything on the chosen screens with an emergency message until an operator ends it.
In DigiMaps the message appears in every venue language side by side, above the attract screen and signage, and can offer “Show me the way out” where approved exit data exists. It supplements, never replaces, your approved signage and procedures.
Emergency mode and live operations
See also Live closure Webhook
Evidence-gated release
An evidence-gated release is a map publish that the system blocks until the required proof, such as measured positioning or life-safety checks, is on file and still current.
DigiMaps has three assurance profiles: standard, universal commissioned and hospital life-safety. Evidence expires and is tied to the map geometry, so moving a wall means the proof has to be renewed. These are software release gates, not certifications.
Review, publish and roll back in Studio
See also Release and rollback
Terms beginning with G
GeoJSON
GeoJSON is an open format, defined in RFC 7946, for writing geographic features such as points, lines and polygons as JSON.
Coordinates are longitude and latitude on WGS 84. An IMDF archive is a set of GeoJSON files. DigiMaps exports GeoJSON from Studio at any time; GeoJSON imports are done by our team.
What IMDF is and how it uses GeoJSON
See also IMDF
Terms beginning with I
IFC
Industry Foundation Classes, BIM
IFC is an open format for building information models (BIM) that stores storeys, spaces and building elements rather than drawn lines.
DigiMaps can build floors from IFC building storeys and rooms from IFC spaces, on Linux servers. It is handled on request rather than as a self-serve upload.
IMDF
Indoor Mapping Data Format
IMDF is a data model for indoor maps, delivered as a ZIP archive of GeoJSON files, created by Apple and adopted by the OGC as a Community Standard in 2021.
It describes the venue, buildings, levels, units, openings, amenities and occupants, among other features. DigiMaps exports IMDF from Studio at any time; IMDF imports are done by our team rather than an upload in Studio.
Indoor positioning system
IPS
An indoor positioning system estimates where a person or device is inside a building, where GPS does not work reliably.
Common methods use Bluetooth beacons, Wi-Fi signals, a phone’s motion sensors, ultra-wideband or camera-based visual positioning. Accuracy depends on the hardware, the survey and the building, so it should be measured on site rather than taken from a brochure.
See also BLE beacon Ultra-wideband Visual positioning system
Industry pack
An industry pack is a ready-made set of categories, search synonyms, privacy defaults, kiosk home tiles and routing profiles for one kind of venue.
DigiMaps ships 14: hospital, mall, airport, transit, campus, office, government, hotel, museum, stadium, convention, park, mixed use and generic. Pick Hospital and the departments tile, search redaction and staff-only defaults are already set; you can override any of it.
See also Staff-only room
Interactive directory kiosk
wayfinding kiosk
An interactive directory kiosk is a touchscreen where visitors search or browse a building’s directory and get directions from where they are standing.
DigiMaps runs on commodity kiosk hardware: Android signage boards (including Android 9 with 2 GB of memory), Windows kiosk PCs and ChromeOS, with Chromium or WebView 111 or later and WebGL 2.
See also “You are here” origin QR route hand-off Kiosk session reset
Terms beginning with K
Kiosk fleet monitoring
Kiosk fleet monitoring is watching and managing many kiosks from one place: whether each is online, how healthy it is, and fixing it remotely.
Each DigiMaps kiosk sends a heartbeat about every 60 seconds. Studio shows it as Online, Offline or Never connected, sends offline alerts by e-mail and webhook, and can identify, reload, clear the cache, take a screenshot or restart a kiosk where its shell allows. Monthly uptime reports export as CSV.
See also Webhook Site acceptance test
Kiosk session reset
A session reset returns a kiosk to its starting state when a visitor walks away, so the next person starts fresh.
DigiMaps resets after 60 seconds without a touch by default (set per device). It clears the search, route, language and accessibility settings and starts a new anonymous session. Holding Home for 2 seconds starts over at once.
See also Attract screen
Terms beginning with L
Live closure
A live closure marks a place or path as temporarily closed, so every route avoids it, without editing or republishing the map.
In DigiMaps an operator posts it in Studio. Kiosks show “Temporarily closed” and directions avoid the place within seconds; a visitor already following a route is re-routed and told why.
See also Release and rollback Server-Sent Events
Terms beginning with M
Map matching
Map matching snaps a noisy position estimate onto the nearest plausible point on the walking network.
It stops a dot drifting through walls. DigiMaps snaps external position fixes to the navigation graph within 8 m and treats a fix as expired after 15 seconds.
See also Navigation graph Blue dot
Terms beginning with N
Terms beginning with O
On-premises deployment
on-prem
An on-premises deployment runs the software on a server the customer owns, on the customer’s own network.
DigiMaps Server puts the API, database, Studio and Wayfinder on one machine running Ubuntu 22.04 or 24.04, or Windows 11 22H2 or later and Windows Server 2025 via WSL2. It includes encrypted nightly backups, verified restores and upgrades that roll back automatically if a health check fails.
See also Air-gapped deployment
Terms beginning with Q
QR route hand-off
A QR route hand-off moves directions from a kiosk to a visitor’s phone when they scan a code shown on the screen.
The DigiMaps link carries the destination, the kiosk as the start point, the language, the step-free choice and the routing profile. It opens in the phone’s browser with no app and no account, and staff-only destinations are never handed off.
Terms beginning with R
Reach mode
Reach mode moves every control on a kiosk into the lower half of the screen, so a seated visitor or wheelchair user can use it.
In DigiMaps it is called Controls within reach and is part of Accessible mode, along with larger text, step-free routes and spoken directions. The map stays visible in the upper half.
The kiosk that comes down to you
See also Step-free route Routing profile
Release and rollback
A release is a frozen, published version of the map that visitors see; a rollback publishes an earlier release again.
In DigiMaps edits stay in draft until they are published, can go through review and approval, and can be scheduled. A rollback re-publishes the chosen version as a new version through the same checks. Kiosks pick up a new release only when idle.
See also Evidence-gated release Live closure
Right-to-left layout
RTL
Right-to-left layout mirrors an interface for scripts written from right to left, such as Arabic, Hebrew and Urdu.
Mirroring covers menus, lists, step numbers and arrows, not only the direction of the text. DigiMaps detects right-to-left languages and switches the whole kiosk and phone layout, and Arabic directions never fall back to Latin labels from the CAD drawing.
Routing profile
A routing profile is a set of rules that changes how routes are calculated for a particular kind of visitor.
DigiMaps has six: standard, wheelchair, reduced mobility (walking times at 0.8 m/s), avoid stairs, stroller and low vision (fewer turns). The step-free rule is a hard constraint, not a preference.
See also Step-free route Accessible route
RSSI fingerprinting
RSSI fingerprinting estimates position by comparing the signal strengths a phone measures with a survey of signal strengths recorded across the building.
It needs a survey walk, and a new survey when the radio environment changes. DigiMaps includes BLE fingerprint surveys in its phone-positioning tier, which is offered only as a commissioned pilot, with the accuracy measured and reported for your site.
Phone positioning as a commissioned pilot
See also BLE beacon Indoor positioning system
Terms beginning with S
Server-Sent Events
SSE
Server-Sent Events is a web standard that lets a server push a stream of updates to a browser over one long-lived HTTP connection.
DigiMaps uses an SSE stream per venue or screen to deliver notices, closures, emergencies and new releases, and replays missed events from the last event ID after a reconnect.
See also Webhook Live closure
Site acceptance test
SAT
A site acceptance test checks that installed equipment works in its real position, on the real network, before the customer accepts it.
For wayfinding kiosks it covers the “You are here” point, routes, accessibility, QR hand-off, offline behaviour and monitoring, one kiosk at a time. It follows the factory acceptance test (FAT) carried out before shipping.
A wayfinding kiosk SAT checklist
See also Kiosk fleet monitoring
Staff-only room
A staff-only room is a place that visitors must not see on the map or be routed to, such as a treatment room, plant room or store.
DigiMaps decides visibility on the server at publish time, so staff-only and hidden rooms are left out of search, the directory, directions, landmarks, feeds, deep links and QR codes. In the hospital and government packs, unknown room types stay staff-only until someone decides.
Hospital wayfinding and privacy
See also Industry pack
Step-free route
A step-free route reaches a destination without stairs or escalators, using lifts, ramps and level floors instead.
In DigiMaps, switching step-free on makes it a hard rule: the route never uses a stepped link, even when that is the only way through. If no step-free way exists, the app shows a best-effort route and says so.
See also Accessible route Navigation graph
Terms beginning with U
Ultra-wideband
UWB
Ultra-wideband is a short-range radio technology that measures distance from signal travel time, used for precise positioning with fixed anchors and tags.
It needs anchors installed across the space and devices that support it. DigiMaps has no built-in UWB; an external positioning SDK can feed positions into the map through the documented position API.
What DigiMaps does and does not position with
See also Indoor positioning system Visual positioning system
Unit
IMDF term
In IMDF, a unit is the polygon for one subdivided space on a level, such as a room, walkway, lift or restroom.
Each unit carries a category, an optional name in several languages, a reference to its level and a display point. Openings, the doors and entrances, sit on unit boundaries.
Terms beginning with V
Visual positioning system
VPS
A visual positioning system works out where a camera is by matching what it sees against a model of the space captured in advance.
It needs a capture of the venue and a processing service. DigiMaps does not include one; as with UWB, an external system can feed positions in through the position API.
See also Ultra-wideband Indoor positioning system
Terms beginning with W
Webhook
A webhook is an HTTP request that one system sends to another when something happens, so the receiver does not have to keep asking.
DigiMaps sends HMAC-SHA256-signed webhooks for 13 event types, including venue.published, emergency.broadcast and kiosk.offline, with retries from 1 second to 30 minutes and a delivery log you can redrive.
See also Server-Sent Events Kiosk fleet monitoring
Terms beginning with Y
“You are here” origin
The “You are here” origin is the fixed point on the map where a kiosk stands, used as the start of every route from that kiosk.
Because the kiosk does not move, routes start from the right place on day one, with no beacons. Each DigiMaps kiosk is placed on the plan with the direction it faces, so “Your view” can turn the map to match the way the visitor is looking.
Kiosk wayfinding without beacons
See also QR route hand-off Blue dot
Where a route’s starting point comes from.
Five of the terms above are ways for the map to know where the visitor is standing. Only the first two need nothing extra in your building, and both run in DigiMaps today. Phone positioning comes as a commissioned pilot.
| Method | What it needs in the building | On an iPhone browser | In DigiMaps |
|---|---|---|---|
| “You are here” origin | Nothing beyond the kiosk, placed on the plan with the direction it faces | Not needed: the route starts at the kiosk | Available today Every route from a kiosk starts at the right place on day one. |
| QR route hand-off | A kiosk, and a public link the phone can reach | Opens in the browser, no app | Available today Destination, start point, language and step-free choice travel with the link. |
| BLE beacons and RSSI fingerprinting | Beacons, a survey walk, battery changes | No: browsers on iPhone cannot read Bluetooth, so it needs a native app | Commissioned pilot We survey your venue and report the accuracy measured on site. |
| Ultra-wideband (UWB) | Anchors across the space and devices that support UWB | No: native apps only | Not built in An external SDK can feed positions in through the documented position API. |
| Visual positioning (VPS) | A captured model of the venue and a processing service | Depends on the provider | Not built in Same route as UWB: an external system feeds the position API. |
How the three positioning tiers work Do you need beacons for indoor wayfinding? All indoor wayfinding guides and checklists
Questions about these terms
What is the difference between wayfinding and indoor navigation?
Wayfinding covers everything that helps people find their way around a building, from printed signs to kiosks and phone maps. Indoor navigation usually means turn-by-turn guidance that follows a phone’s position, which needs an indoor positioning system. A wayfinding kiosk gives step-by-step directions from its own fixed position without tracking anyone.
What does IMDF stand for?
IMDF stands for Indoor Mapping Data Format. It is a data model for indoor maps, delivered as a ZIP archive of GeoJSON files, created by Apple and adopted by the Open Geospatial Consortium as a Community Standard in 2021. DigiMaps exports IMDF from Studio at any time.
Do we need a blue dot for indoor wayfinding?
No. A kiosk’s “You are here” point gives every route a correct start, and a QR code moves the route to the visitor’s phone. A blue dot needs an indoor positioning system, a site survey and, on iPhone, a native app. DigiMaps offers phone positioning as a commissioned pilot, with the accuracy measured on your site.
What does step-free mean on a wayfinding kiosk?
A step-free route avoids stairs and escalators and uses lifts, ramps and level floors instead. In DigiMaps it is a hard rule: once step-free is on, the route never uses a stepped link, and if no step-free way exists the kiosk says so rather than quietly sending someone up the stairs.
Are these definitions specific to DigiMaps?
The first sentence of each entry is a general definition you can use anywhere. The sentences after it describe how DigiMaps handles the term, with links to the pages that go into detail. If a term you need is missing, e-mail support@digisigns.in and we will add it.
Hear these terms used on your own floor plans
Book a 30-minute walkthrough and bring one floor as DWG, DXF or PDF. We will show where each of these terms turns up in your building, from the route network to the kiosk by the entrance.