Type of Project: Funded project Scientific Work
Research project m4guide (mobile multi-modal mobility guide)

Objectives and background: The objective of the m4guide project is the development and practical testing of an end-to-end personalized travel information and destination guidance system that can also be used by blind and visually impaired people in cities. The m4guide can be used as an app with an easy-to-use smartphone (mobile) as an integrated communication and navigation system that can be used multi-modally, i.e. when using public transport, on footpaths and in buildings (e.g. train stations). This can significantly increase the mobility (mobility) of people in an unfamiliar urban environment. Until now, there has been no universal, cross-traffic travel and destination guidance system with seamless navigation in public street space, including the use of public transport, for this user group. Berlin was selected by the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi) to develop a new type of navigation system, m4guide, which guides blind and visually impaired people safely to their destinations with the help of a smartphone. New features include in particular: - pinpoint location within the radius of the blind's cane, - location and navigation even within train stations and public buildings, - consideration of obstacles and danger spots. It is generally advantageous to be able to use communication and information options from a smartphone. For blind people this is of crucial importance, as they can only use one hand for a mobile device for location, routing guidance and communication (voice-guided navigation), as the second hand will also be needed for the blind cane in the future. The main research topics of the project are as follows: 1. User-specific multi-modal route determination (outdoor/indoor) 2. Consideration of static information about obstacles in the road space, consideration of dynamic information about delays and/or disturbances 3. Improve outdoor and indoor accuracy (seamless location and use of improved satellite location capabilities) 4. Provide real-time traffic information in public transport vehicles via smartphone (position, next stop and transfer options) 5. Develop a uniform and routable data model taking into account precisely located objects in outdoor and indoor areas 6. Generation of "routable indoor maps" from building floor plans 7. Testing of the developed solutions in field tests with different user groups