A lot of bigger underground transit stations are literal mazes! Even in the somewhat smaller ones in e.g. Tokyo, you can easily get lost as a tourist or first-time visitor.

I'm sure this will be valuable to people especially with accessibility needs.

I definitely could have used some indoor navigation when trying to find stuff underground in Japan, like looking for T's TanTan in Tokyo Station (amazing ramen, try it if you get the chance).

Took me a while to figure out it's actually behind the ticket booth, and that you can only access it if you're taking a train (or have bought a ticket just for ramen).

Even the Tokyo metro with its massive stations filled with people were pretty easy to navigate as an English speaker with no knowledge of Japanese. Signs all over the place!

Underground transit stations can be a huge pain in the ass to find the right exit for, when you want to come out going a particular direction, because you have no sense of cardinal directions while underground.

For this reason I've more or less given up on finding the right exit in big subway station, I just find the fastest way to ground level and go from there!

Yeah this is always my go to option. However in London at least each exit gets a number and city mapper will tell you the correct one to use. If you're going to a big landmark it will also be signposted in the station which helps. I would still rather just get above ground and figure it out then.

This will be awesome in countries where I can't read the signage.

Depends on what you’re looking for. Finding the approved ride share pickup spot can be pretty tricky in some airports. It can also be hard to identify and communicate exactly where you are on the curb (where’s “gate 6”?).

> Finding the approved ride share pickup spot can be pretty tricky in some airports.

This may be by design - the local taxi mafia usually gets the front door and then the rideshare pickup is somewhere out of the way with bad signage.

> easiest places to navigate indoors, because of the plentiful signage.

You should try getting around Toronto's main transit hub "Union Station". Legend has it the TV show Amazing Race lost contestants for several days after they were trapped in undecipherable signage hell! Good luck to Google.

Yes, there is typically good signage in airports and transit stations, but two main factors will make this a game-changer:

1. airports are a place where a non-insignificant number of visitors have never been there before and may be unfamiliar with the language of the signage. 2. ever been late to a flight? That's a high-stress situation wherein you may be more likely to become frustrated with signage and any human-made error can lead to you missing your flight.

Of course, these two do not usually apply to malls, but still a pretty handy feature there (IMO the less time spent navigating a mall the happier I am).

I think they're saying it's tricky for humans, not for AIs. And I for one do find new train stations in new cities confusing. :)