Case Study: Sarasota Memorial Hospital achieves GPS-like indoor wayfinding with Purple

Sarasota Memorial Hospital - Customer Case Study

Sarasota Memorial Hospital faced the challenge of helping patients and visitors navigate a 1.5 million-square-foot, multi-level campus where GPS does not work indoors. Working with Purple, the health system became the first U.S. hospital to deploy a geomagnetic-based indoor wayfinding solution: the SMH Wayfinder app, which uses smartphone sensors and a building’s magnetic footprint to provide precise indoor positioning.

Purple implemented the SMH Wayfinder app (iOS and Android) to deliver GPS-like turn-by-turn directions with blue‑dot guidance, landmark references, automatic re-routing, and location-based notifications. The geomagnetic approach—augmented by existing beacons and Wi‑Fi—achieves 3–5 foot accuracy while requiring far less infrastructure than Bluetooth or Wi‑Fi-only systems. Built on Purple’s kiosk and web tools, the solution improved visitor wayfinding across the main campus, enabled print/email/text wayfinding from lobby kiosks, and reduced reliance on additional hardware and signage.

Sarasota Memorial Hospital