Barrier-free navigation in buildings

DW (English)

An innovative app helps people who are blind or have low vision navigate public spaces like hospitals, shopping malls, and universities, offering them newfound freedom and independence.

Transcript

00:00Google Maps, but for indoors. Bindi Maps guides you with an accuracy of up to 30

00:06centimeters. It can even tell you where to find the right stamps at a post office.

00:14Someone who is blind or has low vision can use it in voice-over mode. First, there's a mental map, then spoken directions.

00:23Unisex accessible bathroom is 37 meters to your left as the crow flies. Start by turning to your left and go for 22 meters.

00:33The idea behind the app, to help navigate complex indoor spaces.

00:39We just create an environment where everybody can access things indoors.

00:46So that could be education and then later work and then later entertainment, like going to the shops, going out with your friends.

00:54We're reducing barriers for people and that really excites me in what our world could look like when we have participation by even more people.

01:05So far, Bindi Maps can be used in almost 90 locations in Australia.

01:12In 2022, the technology was installed at the Budapest International Airport in Hungary. Setting it up is straightforward.

01:22So we do need a floor plan. We create the map that we use. We create some really beautiful digital maps that go into our app.

01:33Then on top of that, what we need to do is we need to go and take a video of the space.

01:38And that's how we set up our localization. We take the data from the videos and we create sort of like a digital twin.

01:46And that's what we then use to localize the person in space.

01:51An algorithm allows for simultaneous locating and mapping.

01:55Using AI, the app continually works to find the fastest, most accessible paths within a building.

02:01So that everyone can get from A to B with ease.

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