Wes, A.I. Companion

Project Description

For this project, we wanted to answer this question, ""How might we create an interactive system that solves transportation and mobility issues within a city center?"" So, my group and I took a trip to Westfield Century City and observed some of the way-finding issues that those with and without visual impairments may face when visiting.

Problem

Westfield Century City Mall is very large and has gone through a billion dollar renovation, but way-finding here is difficult for everyone. The signs are small and scarce, the digital directory is confusing and doesn’t provide turn-by-turn guidance, nor is it inclusive for the visually impaired. There was a feature for visitors in wheel chairs but it just moves the screen down to be more accessible.

Insights

This project really displayed how underserved our visually impaired community is and how exclusive public spaces can be. Although there are a lot of people out there trying to tackle this issue, there is certainly some missed opportunities.

Solutions

Our solution was to create a handsfree, yet interactive, way-finding experience for the visually impaired. From our research, we figured out some ideas on how someone with visual impairment could be assisted, such as an A.I. chatbot, hyperlocal geolocation, and environment descriptions. This would be done simply by using the existing Westfield mall app and headphones for the visitor.