Ways4Me
The project ways4me supports people with special needs when they are using public transport. The project combines indoor and outdoor navigation, traffic information systems, communication with public transport, the ticket purchase and an intuitive user interface. The result is a barrier-free application for mobile devices.
The project ways4me delivers an overall solution for people with special needs. In the future the public transport systems should become more accessible. The main user group of the project are visual impaired and blind people. They have the most challenge in the public space. If all barriers can be broken down, other user groups (i.e. tourists) got an efficient tool too prepare their journey.
With the time table of the public transport (VOR, ÖBB, VAO) and map material (OpenStreetMap) the user will be able to plan the whole trip. In a dynamic system like OpenStreetMap the users will be able to change or add content to the map. So the system is always up to date and can be improved by the users.
Even when the satellite navigation is not available (i.e. in a railway station), a change will be made to an independent indoor navigation system. In former projects the FH-JOANNEUM showed a navigation system with a combination of an inertial, RFID (radio frequency identification) and QR-Code (Quick Response) navigation system. On the IPIN 2011 in Portugal successful implementation of wireless LAN navigation was shown. With the help of the Fraunhofer Institute (project partner) more sophisticated solutions can be evaluated in public transport areas. In the project NAVCOM a direct communication between the users and the public transport vehicle has been established. Visually impaired people were able to send a stop request to the vehicle. After the first successful tests with a bus of the Vienna transport organisation all components need to be certified and improved. Therefore a general solution for all public transport organisations can be found, which allows a direct integration in the overall system. The mobile application should have an intuitive and barrier free interface. With speech instructions and augmented reality a reasonable user interface can be build.
With the last project ways4me a ticketing solution will be integrated in the mobile software. This should remove the last big barrier for the visually impaired people. The project team has a lot of experiences from former projects and is well suited to reach their goals.
Ways4me is a research project of nine different organisations and led by the degree program “Energy, Transport and Environmental Management / Energy and Transport Management” of the FH JOANNEUM GmbH.
The project is funded by the Federal Ministry for Transport, Innovation and Technology (BMVIT) and the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG) within the program “IV2Splus”, programme line “ways2go”.
With the last project ways4me a ticketing solution will be integrated in the mobile software. This should remove the last big barrier for the visually impaired people. The project team has a lot of experiences from former projects and is well suited to reach their goals.
Ways4me is a research project of nine different organisations and led by the degree program “Energy, Transport and Environmental Management / Energy and Transport Management” of the FH JOANNEUM GmbH.
The project is funded by the Federal Ministry for Transport, Innovation and Technology (BMVIT) and the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG) within the program “IV2Splus”, programme line “ways2go”.
Link to the Ways4me abridged version: Ways4me abridged version
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJxGzX2TrOc
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89nH-eWpZHc
Project start: October 2012
Project end: October 2014
Program IV2Splus:
4e Call, programme line “ways2go” (2011)
Project Management:
FH JOANNEUM Gesellschaft mbH
Project manager DI (FH)Werner Bischof
Deputy project manager DI Elmar Krajnc
Project partners:
Fraunhofer IIS Nürnberg
Steffen Meyer
Steffen Meyer
The Agent Factory
Michael Selle
ÖBB infrastruktur AG
Rubert Weinfurter
Wiener Linien GmbH & Co KG
Roland Krpata
Österreichische Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Rehabilitation (ÖAR)
Edward Riha
Hilfsgemeinschaft der Blinden und Sehschwachen Österreichs
Hubert Wagner
Österreichische Blindenwohlfahrt
Mag. Konrad Widmann
Österreichischer Blinden- und Sehbehindertenverband (ÖBSV)
Wolfgang Kremser