You walk, unseeing, down a narrow and winding path. Around you, thick mists obscure the route. From the gloom come sounds so strange they are almost too terrifying to imagine. They say this perilous route leads to your chosen destination. As you plod forward in dread, you can only hope it is true . . .

Welcome to wayfinding Halloween horror stories – chilling tales sure to set your hairs on end. As you read them and shudder, ask yourself, “how many of these dreadful scenarios have you inflicted on your customers?” Rest easy, good friend, for though the path may be strewn with sticks and stones, there is a guide able to lead one and all to safety. That trusted guide is ARway, but before we get there, we need to get through these terrifying tales!

Tale 1: Spectral Figure

You find yourself in a maze of corridors, stairwells, and elevators. Everything is topsy-turvy as you stumble along looking for something – anything – that will lead you to the “laboratory” for some “tests.” Cryptic signs point you this way and that. Around a corner, a spectral figure dressed in white glides toward you. Naturally, you panic.

Slipping through an open door to find a place to hide, you find yourself tottering on the edge of a yawning abyss. Barely able to stop your trembling, you listen – with cold sweat running down your forehead – as stones and debris fall silently to the bottom, many measureless meters below.

Heart pounding, you now race up an endless set of stone stairs that skirt the terrible shaft. Bursting breathlessly through a door, you rest to get your bearings. As your heartbeat calms, you hear someone calling your name. As you warily approach, you suddenly realize THEY WANT YOUR BLOOD!!

Poor navigation can lead to missed and late appointments – or worse. ARway’s AR wayfinding eliminates confusion and leads people to their appointments quickly, efficiently, easily, and without vampires. Doctors and nurses should be providing care, not directions. Putting high-quality AR navigation from ARway in the palm of patients hands gives back on average 4,500 hours of staff time each year.

Tale 2: Into the Maze of Madness

Picture this, if you dare. You have been dispatched on a critical intelligence mission. As you approach the bazaar where you expect to find the information you need, you see there are thousands of others around you – and hundreds of booths and stalls. All of them want to capture your name and soul (or at least your badge) to give you unnecessary shwag. How will you ever find your way through this maddening throng?

Pulling a map from your sponsored tote, you try to make sense of its bizarre markings. They guide you – you believe – to a moving staircase that descends into an even crazier labyrinth. Suddenly, the escalator transforms into a chute, and you find yourself racing into the very depths of hell!

Disoriented, you stagger to your feet. All around you, incubus and succubus are reaching for you, calling you, tempting you with every manner of tchotchke, ploy, and empty promise. Your mind is reeling – these sirens are pulling you off your course. You must not give in. You must stay strong.

Head down and shoulders squared, you march forward in what you think is the right direction. Too late, you realize all of the thousands in the teeming crowds around you are zombies! They want to do one thing: PICK YOUR BRAIN!

Large and unfamiliar spaces can be a nightmare to navigate. With ARway, finding a specific vendor is a dream. ARway also provides clear and relevant AR signage. Drawing attention and building excitement with hawkers and barkers is tres passe. ARway delivers the kinds of unique ad placements and novel experiences that sponsors love, attendees value, and management profits from. ARway makes amazing things possible.

Tale 3: Existential Angst in Aisle One

You have been given a quest. There is one treasure – and one alone – that will restore peace to the realm. Entering a maddening house of mirrors, you find yourself swept along in a fast-flowing torrent of wraiths and ghouls. You are buffeted first this way and then that, clutching in your quivering hands the holy words that describe the relic you seek.

The shrill voices of demonic imps begin to reach your ears. Your pulse quickens as you realize it is into this tumult you must go. The voices grow louder, and the chittering becomes incessant. Like the chirps of untold locusts, the sound chips away at your very sanity.

With strength you didn’t know you had, you wade through the sea of terrifying beings. Making it to the crypt where you believe the relic to be, you try to push back on the horde as they leap on your back, tug at your legs, and try to keep you from your goal.

There, on a shelf not far from you, you see your objective. Trembling, you check and recheck the sacred text. You know if the item you return with is incorrect – even by the smallest degree – you will need to repeat this quest again – and again and again – until you succeed. Just as you reach for the object, you are overwhelmed by a tide of gremlins. As you are subsumed – clutching the treasure – you realize THEY ALL WANT IT TOO!

Locating a product shouldn’t be a quest. High-quality wayfinding from ARway saves shoppers. This is important to the more than 61 percent of people who say they want to spend less time shopping. Lack of options and information can lead to lost sales – ARway allows the shopping experience to expand beyond the shelf to include every variation of every product and all the relevant information a shopper could ask for.

Spooky season may be here, but there’s no reason to shrink in fear when it comes to providing great wayfinding. At ARway, we connect the physical and digital worlds with Augmented Reality. Interested in starting your own path to get people to your location? Contact our team today and the horror will end.