What is georeferencing?

Georeferencing is the process of assigning locations to geographical objects (a building's floor plan, architectural drawings, landmarks, etc.) which match their true positions on Earth. This typically takes place within a mapping context, in order to correctly fix the object's exact position on a satellite or Earth map.

What is the purpose of georeferencing?

In the past, georeferencing was mainly a focus for external, outdoor maps, helping ensure that individual buildings and landmarks matched up to their true locations. Without this process, systems such as in-car GPS wouldn't work correctly, as buildings wouldn't correspond to the user's blue dot position. For static indoor maps, georeferencing was largely irrelevant, because GPS doesn't tend to work inside buildings and companies had to use alternative systems such as beacons. However, the static indoor map of the past is rapidly becoming extinct, replaced by something far more advanced in which georeferencing plays an important role. One example is in large campuses or complexes such as hospitals, universities, or large workplaces, where multiple buildings may need to operate on the same indoor mapping system and enable users to navigate from one building to another via outdoor paths. In this scenario, if the buildings aren't accurately georeferenced, the entire indoor navigation experience may fall down, due to the use of GPS for outdoor sections and the user's location not correctly aligning to entrances, exits, or even the correct building.

How are maps georeferenced accurately?

Different mapping companies have different approaches to achieving georeferencing accuracy. Pointr uses the Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) zones to calculate the most accurate position for a building's location. The UTM coordinate system provides a precise and consistent way to georeference data globally; it divides the world into 60 north-south zones and 20 latitude bands, providing a compatible reference frame for measuring horizontal and vertical positions, and minimizes distortion caused by the Mercator Projection. As well as the UTM coordinates, Pointr's team takes added precautions to ensure accuracy, including: confirming that all building floors align precisely with each other; finding the actual building position on the world map based on the longitude and latitude of the building or its original address; and visually referencing the architectural drawings (floor plans or CAD files) against satellite images, which can be more challenging than it sounds, particularly with tall buildings.

Why is georeferencing digital maps challenging?

Georeferencing is challenging; a minor mistake can cause inaccurate map and wayfinding results. It requires professional GIS expertise and years of experience to accurately georeference digital maps and deliver seamless indoor/outdoor experiences. Satellite images are the best tool for precise georeferencing, but several challenges can lead to incorrect results. Poor-resolution satellite images make building outlines unclear, whereas higher resolution images make boundaries easier to recognize. Satellite images vary due to seasonal changes, with the best snapshots typically found in Spring or Autumn when there is less foliage. Out-of-date satellite images are a problem because cities grow so fast that even images six months apart can vary immensely, especially for under-construction buildings. Unnecessary details such as shadows of buildings and trees, or the height of a building, can block or confuse the actual building boundaries. Confusing the roof of a building for its baseline makes entrances incoherent, leading to inaccurate indoor/outdoor blue dot transitions. Finally, it is challenging to match the accurate scale and proportion of the floor plan to the world map; any deformation directly impacts wayfinding, positioning, and indoor-outdoor transitions, causing overshooting or undershooting of the blue dot and miscalculated distances between points of interest.

Pointr's October Demo Day Recap

Technology

Eva Cheng

09 November 2026

October’s Demo Day introduced Agentic AI Search, smarter editing in Pointr Cloud and improvements to accessibility, onboarding and geofencing.

Here’s a quick look at the six updates and what they mean for visitors, map editors and developers.

Watch the full demo and access the slides

What’s new this October?

Agentic AI Search
Smarter Pointr Cloud editing
Improved landscape layouts
Localized accessibility
More graceful onboarding
Simpler geofencing configuration

Find places with Agentic AI Search

Visitors know what they need, but they may not know the name of a destination. Agentic AI Search lets them search the map in their own words.

A request such as “I’m hungry” can return food options, while a follow-up about vegetarian choices helps narrow the results. Search also handles typos and synonyms, groups relevant destinations and supports queries in multiple languages.

During the demo, German, Irish and Japanese queries returned results from English venue content. Destination information stayed in English, while conversation mode also demonstrated translated category labels.

For dietary searches, the demo also showed an AI-assisted results notice asking visitors to double-check options with the menu or venue.

The conversational assistant also demonstrated how it remembers preferences across follow-up questions and considers opening hours, proximity and Featured POIs.

Agentic AI Search is available across Pointr’s iOS, Android and Web SDKs, and through Pointr’s APIs. It is the first feature produced through Pointr’s AI Factory, where AI builds with human guidance and review.

Update multiple map features at once

New editing tools in Pointr Cloud reduce the clicks needed to maintain indoor maps.

Multi-feature editing lets editors select several features and update supported shared properties together. In the live demo, Chris applied a gender designation to 14 restroom POIs in one update, rather than editing each individually.

Other improvements include:

Single-click editing: Select a feature and start editing immediately.
Dedicated metadata panel: View and edit feature information beside the map.
Advanced snaps: Align shapes with nearby geometry and inferred alignment points.
Transform controls: Move, resize and rotate map content.
Keyboard copy and paste: Use Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V to reuse features across floors or buildings, including their metadata.

These updates make routine map maintenance faster and help teams keep POI information consistent.

Use indoor maps more comfortably in landscape

Pointr already supported landscape orientation. This update improves how search, categories, POI details, and wayfinding adapt to wider screens.

That helps visitors using a tablet fixed at a hospital information desk or a device mounted on a wheelchair, where rotating the screen may be impractical.

The improvements support the orientation requirement in WCAG 2.1. Blue Dot positioning and heading accuracy remain consistent with portrait mode.

Make wayfinding more accessible across languages

Screen reader support now covers interface text in all 18 supported UI languages, including buttons, menus, and wayfinding cards.

TalkBack and VoiceOver also announce short on-screen messages, such as a floor change, helping visitors hear updates they might otherwise miss.

On Android, wayfinding automatically switches to Accessible mode when a screen reader is active.

Together, these changes make indoor navigation easier to follow with spoken information in the visitor’s preferred supported language.

Ask for permissions at more useful moments

The updated onboarding flow reduces pop-ups and only shows the system location permission dialog when a visitor agrees to proceed. Visitors who are not ready to share their location can decline.

If location becomes useful later, the SDK can explain how granting access would improve the experience. Visitors can still say no, while a visible red “No Location” indicator shows that location access is off.

For integrations using geofencing with geofence notifications enabled, the notification permission prompt waits until the next time the SDK runs, reducing the number of prompts shown upfront.

Configure geofencing with fewer settings

Geofencing configuration now centres on two main settings: whether geofencing is enabled and whether positioning is enabled. Related options, such as geofence notifications, sit beneath them, making setup easier for developers.

The SDK also recognises when a visitor reopens the app without leaving a zone, helping avoid another arrival notification for the same visit.

Coming next

Our team is also working on:

Multi-point Wayfinding: Plan a route through several stops.
Wayfinding Analytics: Understand route progress and completed journeys.
Multi-Client Support: Manage multiple clients in one Pointr Cloud setup.
Guided tutorials and an AI assistant: Get help while working in Pointr Cloud.

These features are in development, with release dates still to be confirmed.

Watch October Demo Day to see the updates in action. For questions about your project, contact product@pointr.tech.