VIATOR (lat. “the traveler”). Mobile platform for smartphones guiding disabled persons on their journeys using public transportation

Disabled persons are facing a manifold of disadvantages when using public transportation. On the one hand, stairs and raised vehicle entrances are considered insuperable obstacles for wheelchair users. On the other hand, missing tactile lines or path descriptions prevent blind or visually impaired people from maneuvering on their own at public transportation nodes. Existing information- and navigation systems for public transportation only instruct their users in terms of transportation means, departure times and departure platforms. Instructions considering the way to and from public vehicles for handicapped persons especially at larger transportation nodes are lacking or outdated due to ponderous and inflexible content management mechanisms at the backend of such systems. Moreover, most of the systems are proprietary and unable to link to competing transportation companies in order to provide a closed information chain for a journey.