Culture
An App to Help Visually Impaired Riders Navigate Complex Subway Systems
Wayfindr uses bluetooth “beacons” and audio navigation to guide users through labyrinthine stations.
There’s a lot going in a subway station, with seas of hurried commuters rushing past one another to reach the many entrances and exits scattered around. For blind or visually-impaired riders, it can be intimidating to navigate around the chaos—and that can take a toll on their confidence in taking public transport and traveling independently.
In fact, the Royal London Society for the Blind (RLSB) found that a quarter of the vision-impaired youth they surveyed were nervous about taking buses, trains, or the London Underground. Over half didn’t feel confident about making transfers at transportation hubs.