Indoor navigation systems for reduced mobility users: the w4all case study

Indoor navigation systems are especially useful in complex areas, such as airports, shopping centers, or university campi, where they help pedestrians to find the best paths. Generally, these systems only consider reduced mobility users' requirements by avoiding steps in the paths they suggest. However, problems reduced mobility users face go beyond steps. Indeed, several barriers are invisible to people without restrictions. This paper describes an indoor navigation system for reduced mobility users called w4all. In its development, we took into account specific requirements of reduced mobility users since the first stages of the project. We performed requirement elicitations for this kind of system, in general, by analyzing related work and using the experience of one of the element of the team, a wheelchair user. Afterwards, we applied them to the specific environment of the w4all system and implemented a prototype. This was tested in loco by a group of users and we obtained encouraging results that show the potential of our solution.