Google Maps Helps You Navigate CES with New Indoor Maps

Google has expanded its indoors support in Google Maps with the addition of several locations in Las Vegas including the Las Vegas Convention Center where this year's CES is underway. Attendees with an Android device will be able to find their way on the convention floor. Interior maps are only available in the Android version of Google Maps for now.

"Since November of last year, you’ve been able to use Google Maps in select places to get detailed floor plans and indoor location information within a few meters, as well as an accurate floor level location," Google announced.

Google has partnered not only with the convention center but also with several of the big casinos on the Las Vegas Strip and beyond, like Caesars Palace, Bellagio, The Venetian, The Palazzo and MGM Grand. Interior maps for all these locations are now available.

"We hope that these indoor maps will come in handy when finding your way through the slots and to the shops. And for those of you who catch gadget-fever with CES in town, we've also partnered with a number of Best Buy stores in the Las Vegas area. "

Even more interior maps have been added in the latest update thanks to the Google Maps Floor Plans tool, which enables companies and institutions to submit interior data to be included in Maps. Google says a large number of malls, convention centers, museums and so on now include interior data in Google Maps.

Google introduced interior maps last year. The idea is to enable users to navigate inside buildings just as well as outside. There are several unique challenges though, floor plan data is rarely available without the cooperation of the building owners.

What's more, Google Maps can't rely on GPS for location inside buildings and again, Google has to work with building owners to compensate for this so that users know not only what the inside of the building looks like, but where they are in it as well.