Locating parked car in Dubai Mall to become digital

Forgot where you have parked your car at Dubai Mall? No worries. With a new parking assistant, locating your car is just a matter of few clicks on a smart touch screen.

This YouTube grab shows an official demonstrating the new parking assistant that helps vistors at The Dubai Mall locate their vehicles on a smart touchscreen. — Supplied photo

While the mall itself is huge, the parking lot is a maze and one can easily forget where he or she parked his car. The innovative service, which will be launched soon, operates on hundreds of surveillance cameras fixed everywhere at the maze-like parking of the mammoth mall.

Talking about his experience with the new service after a demo, Sultan bin Mejren, an Emirati, said the Dubai Mall park assistant, billed ‘Find your car’, is a great help. “With the user-friendly digital park assistant, one can easily search and identify the location of his or her missing car. All you need to do is key in the number plate of your car on any of the digital screens scattered in various locations of the mall, and a front and side picture of the car will instantly pop up with the exact location,” he added.

A simple map with clear directions from where you are at that moment will appear, said bin Mejren. Directions on how to use the video is available on YouTube.

The mall has another way of solving parking problem.

Tokens can be taken from machines installed at entrances to the mall stating the floor where the car has been parked.

“I only need to press a button on the machine and get a ticket telling me where I parked,” said Roua Abdulalim, Egyptian. “This is amazing because it helps me locate my car.”

An Emaar Malls Group spokesperson told Khaleej Times that Emaar Malls Group continues to innovate its services to ensure that customer experiences are positive and seamless.

“With this as our priority, we strive to implement the latest technologies by working with some of the leading tech-providers.” Emaar undertakes routine tests of such new technologies to evaluate customer feedback and how it adds to visitors’ experience.

The Dubai Mall has become the world’s most-visited destination for the third consecutive year, welcoming over 75 million visitors in 2013. Following the impressive footfall of 54 million in 2011 and 65 million in 2012, Emaar Properties’ flagship shopping and entertainment destination recorded a 15 per cent growth in visitor numbers last year. An average monthly footfall stood firm at 6.25 million.

“The record visitor arrival to The Dubai Mall in 2013 is a powerful statement that seals Dubai’s reputation globally as a business and leisure hub,” Abdulla Lahej, group chief executive officer of Emaar Properties, earlier told Khaleej Times.

ahmedshaaban@khaleejtimes.com