Navigate malls and hospitals in Jurong with new app

It can highlight barrier-free routes, guide visually impaired users with audible blips

- Osmond Chia

Visitors to Jurong can now use an indoor mapping mobile app that guides users through a network of linked malls and hospitals, including Jem and Ng Teng Fong General Hospital.

Like an indoor version of Google Maps, the CitiGeni app suggests directions to stores or facilities within the mall and hospital network, highlighting the shortest paths and even barrier-free routes for users with disabilities.

The app also includes an alternative mode designed to assist visually impaired users, guiding them with audible blips as they move through the mall.

Available on Android and iOS, the free service, which was released to the public on Oct 23, is part of a collaboration between Hong Kong navigation tech start-up Mapxus and the National University Health System (NUHS) to help users, especially those with disabilities, navigate indoors.

The CitiGeni app's services will officially expand to Jem and other locations in January 2025.

Believed to be a first for Singapore, the app uses unique mapping technology to match Wi-Fi beacon codes with a map, simplifying indoor mapping for venues without requiring new hardware.

It is designed to guide users through different levels of an indoor location, unlike most navigation apps that can pinpoint a user's location from a bird's-eye view but not the exact floor in a building.