JMT Technology Group and Johns Hopkins University (JHU) are excited to announce that they have been honored with a GIS for Good Esri Partner Award for creating a wayfinding GIS application called the JHU Homewood Campus Wayfinding App. This application is a user-friendly routing tool using Esri’s ArcGIS Indoors technology, which features turn-by-turn navigation and incorporation of route impediments.

The award was presented during the annual Esri Partner Conference in Palm Springs, CA. It is given to companies from the global Esri Partner Network “that have demonstrated innovated and creative ways to solve their customers’ business problems using Esri’s geographic information system (GIS) technology.”

JMT worked with JHU to understand their data, users, and campus goals. With a focus on inclusive design and location intelligence, JMT developed the JHU Homewood Campus Wayfinding App. The pioneering approach to integrating the Esri Indoors application with GPS-based outdoor navigation, overcoming the lack of IPS for seamless accessibility across a large campus, makes this project unique. The team introduced innovations such as custom symbology to highlight accessibility levels, the use of elevators as navigational landmarks, and workflows for reporting issues via Survey123. The application provides real-time map updates, allowing the app to account for hazardous conditions such as construction areas and pathway closures when providing wayfinding recommendations. The team actively collaborated with Esri staff to enhance the software, addressing gaps like mobile app legends and custom messaging. These efforts extended the reach of Esri technology to environments with accessibility challenges, demonstrating its versatility.

Johns Hopkins University’s Homewood campus is home to over 5,000 undergraduates and nearly 2,000 grad students. With over 140 acres, the campus is spacious and wooded, with green quads and tree-lined pathways, and navigating between classes and buildings across campus can sometimes be challenging. The tree cover can sometimes block satellite connectivity using GPS guidance, making it difficult to find directions to certain buildings from a mobile device. In addition, not all historic buildings have the same amenities or accessible entryways, which may lead to mobility challenges.

Understanding these challenges, Johns Hopkins University wanted to provide a solution to address outdoor navigation and include accessibility features for users. They aimed to maximize campus-wide usability, allowing students, faculty, and staff access to programs, facilities, and technology.

JMT leveraged the ArcGIS Indoors Information Model (AIIM) and GPS to create a wayfinding solution that included accessibility features to navigate across JHU’s diverse environments. The app included audio directions, various contrast basemaps, and mobile device voiceover technology compatibility. JMT also adhered to the Institute for Human Centered Design (IHCD) recommendations, incorporating their rigorous accessibility standards in the app design process. JMT and JHU partnered with IHCD to review all aspects of the app and conduct virtual and in-person user acceptance testing.

The new JHU Homewood Campus Wayfinding App was successfully introduced to campus students, faculty, staff, and visitors, providing a thoughtfully designed navigation solution for the Homewood campus. The application allows for real-time map updates to account for hazardous conditions, such as construction areas and pathway closures when providing wayfinding recommendations. The app also includes workflows for collecting user feedback and issue reporting via Survey123.  

Learn more about the JHU Homewood Campus Wayfinding App project

Access the JHU Homewood Campus Wayfinding App