For my final year project at university I wrote an application that allowed users
(students/parents/staff etc.) to view 3-dimensional, interactive models of the buildings on
campus. Within the application, users could search for a room by specifying a room number and an
entrance (or specify ‘any’ entrance), the application then plotted the quickest route from the
entrance to the room. Users could also interact (rotate and enlarge) with the models on
computers, tablets and mobile devices, across a range of operating systems.
The motivation behind the project stemmed from constantly overhearing how students (and I) had
got lost whilst trying to find specific rooms on campus. It was also glaringly obvious how
prospective and new students may have struggled to navigate the more complex campus buildings.
The sole aim of the project was to improve current navigation techniques implemented inside
large buildings and establishments. Current techniques were, and still are, inaccurate, time
consuming and outdated, with very little changes being made since the buildings were first
erected. The most common way of finding a specific room inside a building is to study the
building’s floor plan and memorise your route from the entrance to your room, using waypoint
markers along the route. In a similar scenario, Global Positioning Systems (GPS’s) have
revolutionised travel, and have minimised the need to use a physical map for directions, another
technique that has been in use for hundreds of years.
I received 89% for the project, as well as being awarded the Sullivan Prize for the highest
Computer Science project mark in my university year. Once I had graduated university I secured
funding to develop a modified version of the software with a partner.