LocusMaps Mobile SDK Intro

In addition to being offered through our web and mobile SDKs, our extensive venue databases are also available via a REST API which allows you to build your own powerful front-end that will have access to the latest and most accurate data for any venue.

In the sections below we will look at what information is stored in a venue’s database, what functionality our API offers, a case study and finally we will provide a few basic examples to demonstrate how easy it is to use our API.

API Data — Points of Interest (POIs)

Every facility or location within a venue is known as a POI and can typically include items like a lounge, check-in-counter, security, etc. for a venue like an airport or perhaps a restaurant, gym or room for a venue like a hotel. The following data for each POI is stored in a venue’s database:

• Basic data like name, description & images
• Location data like building, floor, latitude & longitude
• Additional metadata like telephone numbers, URLs( e.g. link to a restaurant’s website)
• Organizational data like categories and tags
• Venue specific data e.g security position in an airport or VIP areas in hotels

API Functionality

Our API offers the following functionality:

• POI Info — All the information noted above can be obtained for any POI with a single API call
• General Search — Easily find POIs within a venue using generic search terms or search by category or tag
• Proximity Search — Find POIs close to any location by passing in basic location data — this way you can make location aware suggestions to your customers.
• Route Info — By simply passing in 2 POIs, you can almost instantly find the distance and estimated walking time between the 2 points

Case Study

Philadelphia International Airport wanted to provide passengers and other visitors to their website with the ability to search for or look up by simple category, all Points of Interest throughout its terminals. This was achieved by designing their own custom interface backed by our REST API.

The starting point for this functionality is their home page, where users could immediately filter between the major categories of “Dine”, “Shops” and “Services & Amenities”:

Home Page with main categories

Clicking on “Dining” takes users to a dedicated page, listing all Dining venues throughout the airport along with the the terminal they are located as well as a direct link to the interactive LocusLabs Map provided by our Javascript SDK.

This page also offers users the ability to refine their location by terminal or perform a free-text search to filter results further. All filtered and search results are provided by our easy to use REST API.

A listing of the airport’s dining venue

When a user clicks on a specific result, the interactive LocusLabs map is opened, showing not only the location within the airport, but also a card providing further information on the results including description, images, website, telephone number and more:

A listing of the airport’s dining venue

The map above is fully interactive and the user can pinch and zoom it in order to getter a better idea of the venue location and to orient themselves. However, the user can get exact directions from their current location to the chosen destination by clicking on the “GET DIRECTIONS” button on the POI card. The directions interface provides easy-to-follow, step-by-step instructions (indicated on the map as the user progresses) on how to reach the destination from the current location:

Directions from AA Check-in (Terminal B/C) to Green Leaf’s (Terminal D)

Code Samples

The samples below are for the venue “LAX”. Please note that actual requests will require an API key for authorisation. The purpose of these samples are to demonstrate ease-of -use.

Getting data for a POI

https://rest.locuslabs.com/v1/venue/lax/poi/by-id/

Searching a venue

https://rest.locuslabs.com/v1/venue/lax/search/by-query-string/

Finding route info

https://rest.locuslabs.com/v1/venue/lax/navigate/time-to/source//destination/

Conclusion

The above case study provides an excellent illustration of the flexibility and power of our REST API, which can be applied to a huge variety of use cases, both on the web and mobile.

Our SDKs and Databases cover and can be applied to not only airports, but also a variety of other venues like hotels, campuses and more. Contact us to find out how we can help you enhance the discoverability and usage of your venue.

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