Developing an Aid to Help the Visually Impaired to Navigate at MTR platform

Abstract

At MTR platform, only tactile guide path tile and escalator audible warning signal are the aids which help the visually impaired people to navigate. However, the information provided by these aids is limited that visually impaired people(VIP) may still have difficulties to navigate at the platform. Considering this problem, Hong Kong Blind Union has been looking for the possibility to develop some technological aids to help VIP navigating at MTR platform. An app is therefore developed to help VIP locating their position and the facilities at MTR platform with the use of iBeacons and iOS devices. This aid uses iBeacons as bluetooth signal transmitters to notify the user the information about their current position, the nearest escalator in terms of train door number and the estimated distance from the user. Simulation experiment was conducted in different places, such as park, the 5th floor of CityU and MTR platform. The result showed that user had more concept about the position of the facilities and their current location. Improved experience of navigating at simulated MTR platform is also shown from the experiment. Further testing will be carried out in the real MTR platform to test the reliability of my app.