I am not sure why this is given as "How an Indian" would give directions , that's how we do it here in London as well. No one says "Go Southeast for 0.2 kms" , you are oriented and directed via a well-known landmark.
Well, in London you might say 'turn left down XYZ road', so we have a system of navigating that's less changeable than things like shop names.
Not that it isn't a neat system to have, but I'm guessing it's pretty labour-intensive to get off the ground, and needs a lot more maintenance to keep it reliable.
You do say "Turn left down XYZ Road" but if you don't know or can't see which road you are on(happens quite often in the small bylanes in Central London), there is always the very reliable, do you see "name of pub" in front of you - walk towards it.
remember that the article could be written by or targeted at americans. in the us (and a few other places, like santiago chile), people navigate much more by blocks + compass directions. this is possible because the streets are grid-like (and here in santiago it is always clear which was is east because you can see the mountains). in the uk, which is much more "organically" laid out, that doesn't work.
But as a technology this is fantastic.