Build a facility · Wayfinding

Indoor wayfinding and turn-by-turn directions

Walking routes between two points on one floor, with distance, walking time and turn-by-turn steps: Route from A to B (N) in the editor, Navigate in the viewer.

8 min readUpdated October 17, 2026

What wayfinding does

Click a start point and a destination, and Spatial Map draws a walking route between them that goes around walls and racks and through doors, with turn-by-turn directions. Nobody has to draw the route: it is worked out from the shapes already on the map.

In the editor: the Route from A to B tool (N), for checking that your layout can actually be walked.
In the viewer and on share links: the Navigate button, for anyone looking up how to get somewhere.

How a route is worked out

When you place the destination, Spatial Map lays a grid of 25 cm squares over the floor and marks each square as open or blocked, based on what is drawn there. It then searches that grid for the shortest walkable path (an A* search), with a small cost for every turn and a preference for the middle of corridors. The result is straightened into as few legs as possible and centred in each aisle.

Shape on the map	What the route does with it
Areas (rooms, zones, departments)	Walkable. An area is floor space, not a barrier.
Aisles / lines and walls (including Magic walls)	Blocked, using the line's wall thickness.
Doors	Open the floor across the whole door opening (clearing any wall or rack cells there), so the route can pass through. A door only has to sit across the wall line; it doesn't need to be snapped to it.
Racks	Every rack cell is an obstacle; the route uses the aisles between racks.
Stairs, lifts, escalators	Not used. The route doesn't change floor.
Markers, circles, 3D models, labels, image planes, drawn routes	Ignored.
The floor plan image	Ignored. Walls that exist only in the picture don't block anything until you draw them.

Clearance. Walls and racks are padded by about 0.3 m, roughly half a person's width. A gap narrower than about 0.6 m counts as closed.
Which floor. In the viewer, the route uses the floor you picked in the floor switcher. In the editor, it uses every floor plan whose eye is on in the workspace tree, plus shapes with no floor. Hide the other floors before you preview.
Hidden shapes don't count. A wall or rack you have hidden with its own eye toggle is treated as if it weren't there. Switching a whole layer off in the Layers menu does not take its shapes out of routing.
Clicks inside an obstacle snap. If you click inside a rack or a wall, the point moves to the nearest open spot within 3 m.
Nothing drawn, straight line. On a floor with no walls, doors or racks, the result is a straight line with a distance but no steps.

Route from A to B in the editor (N)

The Route from A to B button (a navigation arrow) sits in the top group of the left toolbar, next to Pan, Select and Marquee select. Its tooltip reads "Route from A to B (indoor wayfinding)"; it also works in Preview mode. It doesn't create anything: a preview is never saved.

1
Turn it on
Press N or click the navigation arrow. The cursor becomes a crosshair, and clicks no longer select shapes.
2
Click the start, then the destination
The route appears on the map and the Directions panel opens at the top left, just right of the toolbar.
3
Try another pair
Your next click starts a new route from that point. Press Esc or click the × in the panel ("Clear route") to start over.

`N`	Turn on Route from A to B.
`Click`	Place the start, then the destination. A third click starts a new route.
`Esc`	Clear the current route.

The Navigate panel in the viewer

In the read-only viewer, and on share links, a Navigate button sits at the bottom-left of the map, just above Auto-rotate. Its tooltip reads "Get directions between two points".

1
Pick the floor
Choose the level in the floor switcher first. The route is worked out on that floor. See Floors.
2
Click Navigate
The button turns green and reads Stop navigating. While it is on, clicks on the map place route points instead of opening shape details.
3
Click the start, then the destination
The Directions panel opens on the left with the route summary and the steps.
4
Finish
Click × to clear the route, or Stop navigating to leave. Nothing is saved; reloading the page resets it.

In the Directions panel	What it shows
Distance	Total walking distance (centimetres under 1 m, metres up to 1 km, then kilometres).
Walking time	"N min walk", based on an average walking speed of 1.35 m/s (never less than 1 min).
Turns	How many turns the route makes.
Steps	A compass heading to start ("Head NW"), then "In 20 m, turn right", "In 8 m, bear left" and so on, ending with "Arrive at destination".

Change of direction	Step reads
Under 15°	no step — the leg simply continues
15° to 40°	bear left / bear right
40° to 100°	turn left / turn right
100° to 160°	sharp left / sharp right
160° or more	make a U-turn

The route line is green when a path was found. Where it crosses a raised area (an area with a height), the line is lifted above it so it stays visible in 3D.

Getting between floors

Routes don't climb stairs or ride lifts and escalators yet, and there is no "prefer lifts" option. To guide someone to another floor, split the trip:

1
Route to the stairs or lift
On the starting floor, use the lift or escalator icon on the map as the destination.
2
Switch floor
Pick the destination floor in the floor switcher.
3
Route from the landing
Start the second route where the stairs or lift arrive, and click the final destination.

Mark a lift or escalator Out of service in its side panel and it is drawn greyed out, so people know to pick another one. See Lifts & escalators.

When a route fails

A failed route shows a red card in the Directions panel instead of steps. An amber straight line means no path was found; a red line means the start or end point couldn't be placed.

What you see	Likely cause	Fix
No path found ("Try a different destination — there is no walkable path from here.")	The room has no door, or its door isn't on the wall line, so the wall stays closed.	Select the door and move it onto the wall (the Door tool snaps to walls), or add a door.
No path found in an aisle that looks open	The aisle is narrower than about 0.6 m once racks or walls are padded, or two racks touch.	Widen the gap, or check that no rack overlaps the aisle.
Start point is blocked / Destination is blocked	The click is deep inside a rack or wall, more than 3 m from open floor.	Click again on an open area, not inside a rack or wall.
The route walks through a wall	That wall exists only in the floor plan image, is hidden, is drawn as an area, or sits on a hidden floor.	Draw the wall with the Aisle tool or Magic walls, and make sure it is visible.
The route goes around the outside of the building	There is a gap in the outer walls; nothing marks the outside as off limits.	Close the outer walls, leaving openings only where real doors are.
The route bumps into walls from another level	Several floors are visible at once.	Viewer: pick one floor. Editor: hide the other floor plans with their eye toggle.
A straight line with no steps	Nothing that blocks or opens is drawn on this floor.	Draw walls, doors and racks first.
The route ignores the stairs or lift	Routes stay on one floor by design.	Split the trip as described in "Getting between floors".

#What wayfinding does

#How a route is worked out

#Route from A to B in the editor (N)

#The Navigate panel in the viewer

#Getting between floors

#When a route fails

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