whereable.ai linq: Mapless Indoor Shuttle Wins CES Honor

whereable.ai just picked up a nice credibility boost ahead of CES: its autonomous indoor shuttle called linq was named a CES 2026 Innovation Awards Honoree in two categories, Smart Communities and Accessibility & Longevity. The headline matters because indoor mobility is one of those problems everyone complains about, yet most “solutions” still rely on fixed routes, heavy infrastructure, or awkward user experiences.

linq is built for indoor mobility in places like airports, resorts, and malls, where long walking distances and confusing layouts can turn a simple trip into a mini expedition. The product pitch is also clearly tuned for accessibility, aiming to help not just hurried travelers, but also elderly passengers, people with reduced mobility, and anyone dealing with luggage, strollers, or fatigue.

Why indoor autonomy is having a moment

Airports and other large venues have the same repeating headaches: big footprints, unpredictable crowds, and constant pressure to keep traffic flowing. That is why the most practical use case for autonomy right now might be large indoor spaces, where speed and safety matter more than top speed. If you can move people reliably from A to B indoors, you solve real pain around wayfinding and passenger flow.

Indoor environments also come with their own “hard mode” settings: tight corners, narrow lanes, and lots of pedestrians who do not behave like vehicles. linq is positioned as a shuttle that can operate in pedestrian-dense areas without asking the facility to rebuild everything, which is the key difference versus older systems that need fixed tracks or extensive infrastructure.

Mapless, end-to-end autonomy explained

whereable.ai says linq runs on a World Model-based end-to-end approach, with an emphasis on mapless autonomy. In simple terms, it is designed to drive without relying on dedicated high-definition maps, which is attractive for venues that change layouts, signage, and routing rules constantly. That scalability angle is the real story behind the company’s World Model messaging.

On the user side, linq tries to remove friction at the “tell it where to go” step. Passengers can choose destinations using a touchscreen, and it also supports voice interaction via a VLM-style interface, which should help in situations where tapping small UI buttons is inconvenient or not accessible.

Hardware moves: zero-turn and sideways slides

Indoor driving is less about raw speed and more about not getting stuck. linq uses a platform with four-wheel independent drive and steering, enabling tight maneuvers that are hard for typical shuttle layouts. The standout claim is zero-turn capability, which is basically the indoor equivalent of being able to pivot in place when space is limited.

It also supports lateral movement, which is unusually relevant indoors because hallways and service corridors do not always give you room to swing wide. That combination of lateral movement and high maneuverability is meant to keep the shuttle functional in complex layouts where mixed traffic includes pedestrians and other mobility devices.

Operating at scale: fleet tools and airport pilots

Autonomy is not just driving. It is also operations, uptime, and “how do we manage ten of these without losing our minds.” whereable.ai pairs linq with a fleet management system that supports real-time monitoring, remote operation, and analytics, which is exactly the kind of tooling large facilities want before they deploy anything public-facing.

The company also points to live experience at Incheon International Airport (Terminal 2), where ten autonomous vehicles have been operating on a dedicated road since August 2025 using software developed by whereable.ai. That work is being used as a stepping stone toward linq operating in public areas where pedestrians and diverse devices share the same space.

From here, the plan is straightforward: more proof-of-concepts with global airports, then broader deployments, plus expansion into special-purpose outdoor domains like resorts and logistics hubs. whereable.ai says linq is targeting a launch in the first half of 2026, and pricing has not been announced yet, so commercial details will likely land closer to real deployments as the company pushes global expansion beyond Korea.