Rumsch Andreas1, Meyer Eddy2, Rob Wolfgang3, Aliaksei Andrushevich1, Alexander Klapproth1
Abstract
This article describes iWalkActive AAL-JP project research activities on obtaining indoor routable data for rollator users. The aim is to offer people a highly innovative, attractive walker platform that greatly improves the user’s mobility in an enjoyable, motivating way, while at the same time enabling physical activities that are either impossible, or very difficult to perform with a traditional rollator.
First results of the requirements analysis and first outcomes of the specifica-tion concerning indoor-navigaspecifica-tion are presented. The concept of the interacspecifica-tion of indoor-localisation and indoor-navigation is explained. Also the challenges in seamless navigation between indoor and outdoor are addressed. Indoor-navigation doesn’t work without routable data for the indoor of buildings, so that the paths can be calculated. The requirements for the buildings data and the process of getting routable data are discussed.
The navigation shall guide the user on the shortest possible path, but with respect to navigable paths for a walking aid. In addition information about the conditions and properties of downward and ascending slopes of the paths are vital as well as exact information about the access to the next stairs, steps or elevators.
1. Introduction
Active living is a way of life that integrates physical activity into daily routines. This is particularly important for older people, as regular exercise can increase both mobility and the potential for independent living. However, a large proportion of the age group between 60 and 85 years old suffers from various kinds of physical disability that prevents them from living as actively as they would like to. Rollators have become very common mobility aids, as a means for walking support.
In Sweden and Germany ~4% of the population uses a rollator.
[1] Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, CEESAR-iHomeLab, {firstname.lastname}@hslu.ch [2] Geo7 AG, Geointelligence, eddy.meyer@geo7.ch
[3] ITH icoserve GmbH,wolfgang.rob@ith-icoserve.com
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iWalkActive AAL-JP research project, coordinated by the iHomeLab Living Lab, creates an active walker for active people. It takes an innovative walker frame – the Veloped - extends it with an efficient, powerful e-drive and combines it with the possibilities of state of the art ICT technology acting as a mobile device dock connected to valuable assistance services.
The resulting activity platform offers outdoor as well as indoor navigation. While there are several data sources for outdoor navigation – e.g. the commercial Nokia data or the open source Open Street Map –there is no source for general available data indoors. Google just started to provide maps of buildings. Navigation not only needs maps as a graphic, where the position of the user can be shown. It primarily needs routable data, so that the navigation system can guide the user along a path to the destination. The above mentioned datasets contain such routable data for outdoor use.
The purpose of this paper is to show how routable data can be obtained and what other data is needed. The special needs for rollator users are considered.
2. End User Involvement
End users involvement is an important issue for iWalkActive. Therefore potential end users were asked about their needs for a walking aid.
2.1 Process of requirements gathering
In an early phase of the project the assumptions of the projects proposal had to be aligned with the requirements from end users. This was done using different techniques:
• 6 focus groups including end users, potential end users, family/relatives and healthcare professionals.
• Online survey completed by 254 respondents, of which the majority are end users.
• Delphi Study with 5 experts from the rollator and healthcare fields.
• Presentations/discussions with professionals involved in matters that especially address the living situation of elderly people.
The overall results of the focus groups, surveys, Delphi study and discussions are described in Morandell et. al. (2013). In the following the focus lies on the results of the end user involvement concerning indoor navigation.
The evaluation of the questionnaire (see Table 2) shows that for certain situations - particularly in public transport - there is a need for indoor navigation so that the correct gate or platform can be found easily.
The discussions in the focus groups resulted more obvious in a need for indoor navigation, but only if people have been confronted with a concrete situation like looking for an examination room in a hospital.
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Table 2 Number and percentage of respondents finding features concerning indoor
I can plan my bus or train trip and automatically get guided to the right platforms.
54 56 49%
I can quickly find the different rehabilitation departments in the local hospital.
28 51 35%
In a big supermarket, I get guided based on the location of the items I have noted in my shopping list.
28 52 35%
By entering the gate number in an airport, I get directions and the estimated time to walk there.
40 40 50%
I can quickly and easily find the way to my room in a big hotel.
27 49 35%
Overall, a significant amount of end users find indoor navigation to be a useful feature. Therefore, the iWalkActive consortium decided to implement indoor navigation.
2.2.2. User Stories
The development of services in iWalkActive is based on user stories. Concerning indoor navigation, the user stories provided in Table 3 have been extracted out of the end users enquiry.
Table 3User stories concerning indoor navigation.
As user I don’t want to switch between indoor and outdoor navigation, because during walking I can’t operate the device.
As user in a large rehabilitation centre I wish to get information on the route to my room via my Smart Device / mobile.
As user I want to find my way back to my room in a big wellness resorts from anywhere at any time.
As user I want get a hint that there is a swimming pool in the hotel and to be led to it if I want.
As user I want to get guidance in different big holiday resorts / wellness resorts / cruisers, i.e.
to find my room / different event areas.
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As user at a rehabilitation centre I wish to get indications on the route and the length of the route to the next daily event / treatment.
As user I want to find the radiology inside of a big hospital to get to my appointment in time with iWalkActive.
Two types of user stories can be identified based on user’s enquiry:
• Finding a location where the identification of it is known (finding an examination room in a hospital).
• Discovering an unknown building (in a big holiday resort).
3. Solution of iWalkActive
Through the use of a smart phone or tablet computer, that can easily be attached to / detached from the active walker, the user will enjoy a plenitude of assistive services. These iWalkActive ser-vices will include seamless indoor and outdoor navigation, which is a novelty in itself. The user can for example navigate to a chosen goal, walk along a predetermined route, determine the position at any given time, and get tour-specific data like distance, speed and time.
Indoor navigation – like outdoor navigation – is based on two elements: localisation and routing.
First the user is localised so that the system knows where he is. Based on the actual location the user then is routed towards his destination.
3.1 Localisation
For outdoor localisation GPS is used because most smart devices include the receiver for GPS.
Also GPS is a worldwide standardized system.
For indoor localisation no such standardized system exists yet. Targeted are rehabilitation centres, holiday resorts or hospitals and mostly they all are equipped with WLAN. Therefore the localisation system in iWalkActive is based on WLAN. To use WLAN as the indoor localisation system needs special preparation procedure: a so called site survey must be performed. The site survey meas-ures the signal strengths of the access points of the WLAN installation and relates the measure-ments to a specific location in the building. Out of these data all other positions in the area of the WLAN can be calculated.
3.2 Routing
For routing, a navigation system needs maps. Maps are a representation of the reality that exists in many formats for outdoors. There are free available map data like OpenStreetMap; but also com-mercial available maps like the one from Nokia/Navteq.
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A completely different picture we find concerning indoor maps. Google has just started collecting and publishing map data of buildings. But this data is not yet routable. Therefore, if a resort or hos-pital wants to offer indoor navigation, the routable maps for the buildings have first to be recorded.
Routing the user to his destination is not only showing the most direct path but also respecting the capabilities of the user and logistical properties of environment. In outdoor navigation when driving a car the system may not route one along pedestrian paths or the wrong direction in one-way roads. In iWalkActive users of a rollator are targeted therefore the indoor navigation may not lead the user over staircases or through narrow doors. The navigation system has to know all the obstacles which can hinder a user reaching the destination.
Information on properties and quality of paths must be combined with the planned path. Only the knowledge of these additional data - e.g. staircases or gravel - makes it possible to guide the user as appropriate as possible to the destination. The needed data does partially exist for outdoors but is still unavailable for indoors.
Using the navigation of iWalkActive means also seamless navigation: for the user it makes no dif-ference if he is in buildings or on a road. He even doesn’t have to get active to switch between indoor and outdoor. The system does it automatically.
4. Further Work
As seen in chapter 3.2 navigation for people in need of a walking aid only works when appropriate data describing the paths is available. During the project iWalkActive it is not possible to collect data for large areas. Therefore two locations have been defined where detailed data on paths will be captured and made available to the navigation. After capturing the data user tests will be con-ducted in a next step.
5. Acknowledgement
The iWalkActive project is partly funded by Ambient Assisted Living Joint Program (AAL-JP) and its national partner funding agencies of Switzerland, Sweden and Austria.
References
Morandell, M., & Rumsch, A., & Biallas, M., & Kindberg, S., & Züsli, R., & Lurf, R., & Fuxreiter, T. (2013) “iWalkAc-tive: An Active Walker for Active People.” Assistive Technology: From Research to Practice: AAATE 2013 33 (2013):
216.
Rob, Wolfgang (2012). “RTLS-Anwendungsplattform, Ein WLAN kann mehr”. ITH icoserve.
Rob, W. ; Griesser, M. ; Gereke, A. (2010). „A realization of an emergency call system on a healthcare Real-time Location application platform“. Indoor Positioning and Indoor Navigation (IPIN), 2010 International Conference on Digital Object Identifier: 10.1109/IPIN.2010.5647287.
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