As part of the Federal eAward-finals the T-Systems Innovation Award was awarded in early 2012. From the winners of the individual federal states, FH Joanneum with its project “ways4all” was awarded as national winner. Salzburg Research is a partner in the project. The jury was convinced by the easier orientation for people, usage without great effort and at low cost, and autonomous navigation for blind people.

ways4all designed a barrier-free system as a whole, so that people with special needs – especially blind people – can move and orientate in public spacea. The result is a cost-effective, RFID-based indoor mobile navigation system for visually impaired people. The main advantages of this application are low costs and wide availability, simplified and intuitive user interface, communication with other means of public transport as well as audio-enabled navigation. No absolute coordinates or recorded building plans, and no additional equipment are required – just a shoe mounted RFID reader. The system is expandable for outdoor navigation and can be made accessible for other users.