App&Town Compagnon, people with disability can travel independently on public transport
App&Town Compagnon, people with disability can travel independently on public transport
AMPANS and Mass Factory
Foto: Unsplash
The technological company Mass Factory in collaboration with the Foundation AMPANS and the Foundation Saint Pere Claver has developed App&Town Compagnon, a transport-assisted system for people with intellectual disability, mental illness, or memory dysfunctions, that allows them to safely use public transportation, with precise guidance provided by a mobile app, and continuous monitoring by means of a Web App in the cloud. App&Town Compagnon conforms to the Smart City Concept, improvement citizens’ quality of life through use of technology.
App&Town Compagnon is a customized transport assisted system which is adaptable to the abilities of each user. The system includes: route-planning, guidance, and remote monitoring. App&Town Compagnon is a tool that improves social inclusion, mobility, and self-esteem of its users.
In 2018 Apps&Town Compagnon won the Technology Innovation Red Cross Humanitarian Award.
Characteristics of innovation
Location
Bages Region, Barcelona, Madrid (Spain); Laval and Longueuil (Canada)
Partners / Funders
Fundació Sant Pere Claver, Fundació ONCE, STL, Smart Columbus
Genesis
Mass Factory, a spin-off of “Universitat autònoma de Barcelona (UAB)”, was founded in 2012 as a result of project developed by eight Computer Engineering students under the direction of Prof. Jordi Roig. The mobile app which was developed “OnTheBus”, now called “App&Town Going with you”, is the first commercial product of the company.
The original “OnTheBus”, is a free app for Android that allows planning urban routes, either by walking or by bus and has two distinctive characteristics:
- Universal Design that facilitates its use by most of the people
- An extremely precise navigational algorithm which may be used by persons with visual disability
Implementation level
- In Bages Region (Spain) there are 17 intellectually impaired users
- In Barcelona there are more than 50 users that include, intellectually or visually impaired people, people with mental disorders as well as senior citizens with memory deficiencies
- In Madrid there are 10 users with Down syndrome
- In Laval and Longueil, Canada, there are 70 users with intellectual impairment and developmental disorders
Banc d’innovacions
NaviLens, a code system that guides individuals with visual impairments in public spaces
Mentegram, therapeutic monitoring of patients in mental health treatment
Pycipedia, collaborative platform for social workers specialized in parenting with intellectual disabilities
