Indoor Navigation / Wayfinding Issue Paper

Introduction

This document is an issue paper about indoor navigation. It helps people orient themselves, explore, and navigate through buildings such as museums, hospitals, airports, and public transportation stations. Indoor navigation has come to be known as wayfinding. It is separate from outdoor navigation, such as via global positioning systems (GPS), primarily because GPS do not function inside buildings. See [reference and link to GPS navigation issue paper].

Challenges for people with cognitive disabilities

Difficulty with wayfinding by people with cognitive disabilities ranges from minimal to extreme. They may need minimal help to navigate an indoor location, or they may need more help, such as detailed, step-by-step directions. This can have an impact on people with impairments of:

Memory

People with cognitive disabilities may have to:

Executive function

People with cognitive disabilities may not:

Attention-related limitations

People with cognitive disabilities:

Language-related functions

People with cognitive disabilities may not understand proposed routes because they:

Perception-processing limitations

Many people with cognitive disabilities may not:

Reduced knowledge

Some people with cognitive disabilities may not be able to navigate indoors because:

Use cases for ...

Other use cases include:

  1. mall?[a]
  2. Hospital?
  3. restaurant

Scenario 1: Mall

"Trevor is a

Step

Challenge

Solutions

Comments

1. Activate / open the map on phone.

Remember how to start the web browser.

2. See if location is on map.

Recall the web address and know how to invoke it with the web browser.

Enter the web address.

3. Familiarize orientation of map

Determining gps accuracy isn’t necessarily easily apparent. The location pin may visually appear to be exactly accurate but deviation figure not easily accessible or apparent showing range.

Also the direction (compass) of map relative to device may not be apparent dependent on settings.

4. Navigate the map.

Familiarize / recall how to use it; and understand icons/text labels and navigation menus.

5. Determine route on map

Comprehend the content without being distracted by advertisements, extraneous content, etc..

Increase font size and/or activate the print view of the web browser.

The solutions may be mutually exclusive.

Scenario 2: Hospital

"Trevor is a br

Scenario 3: Restaurant

"Trevor is a br

Proposed solutions

Sample Apps

Ease-of-use ideas

Alternative technologies

Research Sources

  1. Wayfinding news articles - latest research, products, etc. (John Rochford, 2011 - Now)
  2. Accessible Way-Finding using Web Technologies (W3C, 2014)
  3. Accessible Way-Finding Using Web Technologies Symposium Home (W3C, 2014)
  4. Accessible Way-Finding using Web Technologies Online Symposium 3 (W3C, 2014)
  5. Way-finding systems (W3C, 2014)
  6. Extended Abstract for the RDWG Symposium on Accessible Way-Finding Using Web Technologies, Accessible Wayfinding Ontologies for People with Disabilities (W3C, 2014)
  7. Geo-fencing (to address wandering, a problem for people with dementia, autism, ID, ...)
  8. Wearable trackers, e.g., LoJack (study on how to obtain insurance coverage)
  9. John Sanchez, IBM Engineer - Has been working on Wayfinding for years (i.e, w/ RFID)
  10. Aura Ganz, UMass Amherst Engineer - Pilot using NFC at MBTA Arlington Street Station
  11. Possibility: http://www.clickandgomaps.com/

Information To Incorporate

The following text is copied from Accessible Way-Finding Using Web Technologies Symposium Home (W3C, 2014).

Increasingly web technologies are used to provide such way-finding applications and services. This allows them to make use of web-based maps, location information, crowd-sourced reviews, and real-time data about the weather, traffic conditions, and other relevant aspects. It also allows the integration with and use of web-enabled sensors and actuators, and deployment on web-enabled devices such as mobile phones, televisions, overhead signage, glasses, watches, and other gadgets. Way-finding using web technologies enables new paradigms in many areas including mobility, travel, and tourism, and unprecedented opportunities for everyone.

In particular people with disabilities can greatly benefit from such way-finding applications and services, to gain more independence and self-determination. Examples of web-based maps, crowd-sourced information, and public data with accessibility information demonstrate the use of the Web to augment the physical world. Similarly, examples of specially created navigation and orientation systems, smart wheelchairs, smart canes, and other devices and applications demonstrate the potential of connecting the physical world with information on the Web to improve accessibility.

Also mainstream developments, including in the areas of near-field communication, open linked data, and self-driving vehicles, provide the potential for more versatile and cost-effective way-finding applications and services. However, it is unclear how well such mainstream way-finding applications and services address the accessibility needs of people with disabilities. This includes aspects such as:

This symposium explores the current state-of-the-art, gaps, challenges, and opportunities in providing accessible way-finding using web technologies.

Scope

The scope of the symposium includes but is not limited to the following aspects:

The following text is copied from Accessible Way-Finding using Web Technologies (W3C, 2014)

  1. C. Anagnostopoulos, V. Tsetsos, P. Kikiras, and S.P. Hadjiefthymiades (2005) OntoNav: A Semantic Indoor Navigation System. Proceedings of the 1st Workshop on Semantics in Mobile Environments (SME’05), Available: :http://ceur-ws.org/Vol-165/paper14.pdf
  2. B. Corona, and S. Winter (2001a) Guidance of Car Drivers and Pedestrians. Institute for Geoinformation, Technical University of Vienna. Vienna, Austria. Available: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.26.4982
  3. B. Corona, and S. Winter (2001b) Approaches to an Ontology for Pedestrian Navigation Services. Institute for Geoinformation, Technical University of Vienna. Vienna, Austria. Available: http://nav.spatial.maine.edu/oispacewiki/images/6/66/F.pdf
  4. B. Corona, and S. Winter (2001c) Datasets for Pedestrian Navigation Services. Proceedings of the AGIT Symposium, edited by J. Strobl, T. Blaschke, and G. Griesebner, 84–89. Salzburg, Germany.DOI:10.1.1.17.8990
  5. P.M. Dudas, M. Ghafourian, and H.A. Karimi (2009) ONALIN: Ontology and Algorithm for Indoor Routing. Tenth International Conference on Mobile Data Management: Systems, Services and Middleware, 720–725. DOI:10.1109/MDM.2009.123
  6. C. Jacquet, Y. Bourda, and Y. Bellik (2005) A Context-Aware Locomotion Assistance Device for the Blind. Proceedings of HCI 2004, People and Computers XVIII - Design for Life, 315–328 DOI:10.1007/978-3-540-27817-7_64
  7. H.A. Karimi and M. Ghafourian (2010) Indoor Routing for Individuals with Special Needs and Preferences. Transactions in GIS 14(3):299–329. DOI:10.1111/j.1467-9671.2010.01198.x
  8. M. Kavouras, and M. Kokla (2008) Theories of Geographic Concepts: Ontological Approaches to Semantic Integration . Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, Taylor and Francis Group.
  9. T. Sarjakoski, P. Kettunen, H. Halkosaari, M. Laakso, M. Rönneberg, H. Stigmar (2013). Landmarks and a Hiking Ontology to Support Wayfinding in a National Park During Different Seasons. In M. Raubal, D. M. Mark, and A. U. Frank (Eds.), Cognitive and Linguistic Aspects of Geographic Space, Lecture Notes in Geoinformation and Cartography. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Berlin Heidelberg.DOI:10.1007/978-3-642-34359-9
  10. G. Schreiber (2008) Knowledge Engineering. In Handbook of Knowledge Representation, edited by F. van Hamelen, V. Lifschitz, and B. Porter, 929–946. Elsevier B.V.
  11. R. Studer, V. Richard Benjamins, and D. Fensel (1998) Knowledge engineering: Principles and methods. Data and Knowledge Engineering, 25(1-2):161–197. DOI:10.1016/S0169-023X(97)00056-6
  12. M.C. Suarez-Figueroa, and A. Gomez-Perez (2012) Ontology Requirements Specification. In Ontology Engineering in a Networked World (pp. 93–106). Springer Berlin Heidelberg. DOI:10.1007/978-3-642-24794-1_5
  13. U.S. Access Board (2010) ADA Guidelines, http://www.access-board.gov/guidelines-and-standards/buildings-and-sites/about-the-ada-standards/guide-to-the-ada-standards

The following text is copied from Extended Abstract for the RDWG Symposium on Accessible Way-Finding Using Web Technologies, Accessible Wayfinding Ontologies for People with Disabilities (W3C, 2014)

  1. Li, Y., Draffan, E.A., Glaser, H., et al. RailGB : Using Open Accessibility Data to Help People with Disabilities. Proceedings of the Semantic Web Challenge co-located with ISWC2012, (2012), 1–8.
  2. Prandi, C. Accessibility and Smart Data : the Case Study of mPASS. Proceedings of 13th International Web for All Conference - W4A ’14, (2014), 9–10.
  3. Holone, H. and Misund, G. People helping computers helping people: Navigation for people with mobility problems by sharing accessibility annotations. Computers Helping People with Special Needs, (2008).
  4. Ding, C., Wald, M., and Wills, G. A Survey of Open Accessibility Data. Proceedings of 13th International Web for All Conference - W4A ’14, ACM (2014), 73–80.
  5. Bizer, C., Heath, T., and Berners-Lee, T. Linked data-the story so far. International Journal on Semantic Web and Information Systems (IJSWIS) 5, 3 (2009), 1–22.
  6. Tim Berners-Lee. Linked Data - Design Issues. 2009. http://www.w3.org/DesignIssues/LinkedData.html.
  7. Ding, C., Wald, M., and Wills, G. Open Accessibility Data Interlinking. Proceedings of The 14th International Conference on Computers Helping People with Special Needs (ICCHP), (2014), 73–80.

This table placed here temporarily.

Name

Purpose

Use

Environmental Features

Definition of Accessibility

Source of knowledge

Walk Ontology

(Paepen and Engelen 2006)

To create language and direction independent navigation instructions

Map route?

To translate instructions into new languages and reverse the direction of instructions

Landmarks

Not focused on accessibility

Walk guides

Landmark Ontology for Hiking

[9]

To formally represent landmarks for hiking

To automate use of landmarks in the ( memorization of multiple landmarks Terrain Navigator application

Landmarks, hiking trails

Focus on older adults (limited walking, using wheelchair)

Interviews, empirical study with hikers, map legends

Pedestrian Ontology

[2, 3, 4]

To define pedestrian information needs and service and data specifications

To identify the core elements of route instructions for pedestrians

Conceptual: distance, landmarks, map. Physical: streets, buildings, green areas

None: they note adaptive services for ‘handicapped persons’ as future work

Existing car navigation services and investigate => literature on human cognitive maps for pedestrians

Indoor Navigation Ontology (INO)

[1]

To describe navigation paths

To enable reasoning for route selection

Hallway paths, points-of-interest, obstacles

Based on physical and perceptive capabilities of individual users (insert reference to cognitive disability) - chunking of info

Unknown

ONALIN

[5, 7]

To model indoor networks and features

To provide routes within a building that meet the special needs and preferences of individuals

Hallway paths, points-of-interest, transitions

Based on ADA criteria – focus on mobility and vision communities

ADA Standards

Ontology for Structure Description

[6]

To describe a structure (building)

To allow users to point a device at an object and receive a semantic description

Floor, wall, room, building

Source: Extended Abstract for the RDWG Symposium on Accessible Way-Finding Using Web Technologies, Accessible Wayfinding Ontologies for People with Disabilities (W3C, 2014)

[a]my thoughts?