On an average day here in Hong Kong, I might walk several miles without ever going outdoors. This is possible thanks to an extensive system of interconnected shopping malls, office towers, covered elevated walkways and subway stations. What’s not possible is to map these walks on Google Maps. Like most mapping services, Google Maps rarely covers indoor spaces. So I’ve learned to get around the old-fashioned way: looking at wayfinding signs, asking directions, trial and error.

But soon, getting lost indoors may become just as rare as getting lost outdoors. Indoor navigation systems – think Google Maps for malls, airports, hospitals and other large buildings – are on the rise, and they aim to remake our sense of space as thoroughly as GPS already has. 

“GPS gets you to the shopping mall but doesn’t work inside,” says Roger McKinlay, a navigation specialist and former president of the UK’s Royal Institute of Navigation. “The signals are weak and the receiver has no hope of finding four signals, which have not been bounced around. So other forms of positioning are needed.”  

These other forms of positioning are shaping up to be big business. A recent reportfrom the research firm MarketsandMarkets estimates the indoor location market – which includes indoor navigation as well as indoor data tracking (such as how long someone spends in a specific store in the mall) – will be worth $41 billion by 2022. Another report, from Opus Research, estimated that, as of 2014, there were some 200 startups working on indoor navigation systems.

These systems use a variety of different technologies, from WiFi to radio waves to magnetic fields. It’s not yet clear which, if any, technology will become dominant. Many current systems rely on WiFi or on Bluetooth beacons installed around a given building, which can communicate with a user’s phone and offer real-time directions similar to GPS.

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But it’s not yet clear whether those most in need of wayfinding help will be served by new technologies.

Hesper Smyth, a lead designer at wayfinding design firm Corbin Design, points out that designers working on physical wayfinding must follow guidelines set out by the Americans with Disabilities Act. That means letters on signs must be a certain size, signs must be mounted at a specific height from the ground, letters and pictograms must contrast with their background and so on. Designers also take into account populations with specific needs, such as the elderly or those who don’t speak English, Smyth says. The elderly, a population especially vulnerable to getting lost, may not have the technological wherewithal to use indoor navigation apps.

“Really the audience isn’t quite there yet, and the technology isn’t solid enough to rely on solely,” Smyth says.

But it seems likely that it’s just a matter of time before the technology gets there. And when it does, users can’t be far behind.

“The retail business would love to be able to target us with adverts relating to a real physical position, not just our online movements. Store designers would love to have a big data set of customer movements to work out how to better lay out their stores,” McKinlay says. “The chance of success is very high because there are real commercial rewards.”