Winners Announced in Accessible Transport for Berlin Challenge

Urban mobility is one of the world’s most pressing issues. As cities continue to grow and become more congested, there is pressure on all forms of transport to meet demand. The situation is particularly difficult for people with mobility challenges, while finding good solutions can be difficult due to complex infrastructure.

The Toyota Mobility Foundation, supported by the City of Berlin and together with betahaus X and public transport partners DB, BVG, ViP and VBB, hosted a competition to find new digital solutions and apps that might help make transport in the German capital region more accessible for everyone. The Accessible Transport for Berlin Challenge attracted 266 applicants, from which 12 finalists were selected, including two from the UK.

The winners, announced today, are: –

BeeSonix (Germany)

BeeSonix offers inaudible, ultrasonic announcements which serve as beacons in mobile apps.  With i internet of sound, they create seamless navigation apps and provide guidance for visually impaired people. BeeSonix will implement its proof of concept with BVG, Berlin’s leading public transport company.

Bischof – Innovation & Technology (Austria)

Bischof – Innovation & Technology has developed “Guide Me,” a video assistance system which enables passengers to easily request help from a control centre or a family member, using their smartphone. Bischof will implement its proof of concept with DB, the German railway company, and the public transport authority in the federal states of Berlin and Brandenburg.

Shin Aoyama, CEO and President of the Toyota Mobility Foundation Secretariat, said: “It was not easy to select the 12 start-ups to make the final presentations in Berlin, as there had been so many great ideas. I want to thank all who applied for the challenge and shared their ideas. I am truly impressed with the quality and the professionalism, and I am now looking forward to seeing the winning ideas implemented by our partners.

“For us at the Toyota Mobility Foundation, it is important that through our work we create impact and help improve the lives of people with mobility issues. This challenge helped to identify new solutions, and we are excited to see the impact they will have. Furthermore, if proven successful, these ideas could also be transferred to other cities, to give even more people better access to mobility.”

The 10 other challenge finalists were: –

Be My Eyes (Denmark)

Be My Eyes is a smartphone app with one-button access to a network of sighted volunteers and company representatives, offering blind and visually impaired travelelrs immediate assistance through live video calls.

Briteyellow Ltd (UK)

Briteyellow provides 3D and virtual reality indoor location and navigation applications for transport providers, giving them up to date, accurate and interactive representations of stations and platforms.

Counterest (Spain)

Counterest has developed tracking software that allows public transport operators and authorities to understand real passenger demand and therefore be able to plan and deliver adequate public transport services.

Flow.ai (Netherlands)

Flow.ai makes machine learning and AI accessible to companies by helping them create smart conversational AI from start to finish.

iGeolise (Netherlands)

iGeolise is aiming to adapt its existing API solution, The TravelTime, which calculates what is reachable in the city within a certain travel time, to help passengers in wheelchairs plan their route.

Motion-S S.A. (Luxembourg)

Motion-S S.A. provides data science to solve the challenges of future mobility solutions. It contextualises geolocation data to enable seamless integration of individual and shared mobility and public transportation.

Pointr (UK)

Pointr is a platform that specialises in contextualised positioning of people, with features ranging from indoor navigation to contextual notifications, location based analytics and location tracking.

Proximo.io (Finland)

Proximi.io is a technology-agnostic positioning platform which connects cities and buildings with digital experiences through smartphones. A key feature is its capability to function both in indoor and outdoor environments.

Vesputi (Germany)

Vesputi is a public transport platform that connects all modes of smart city transport and infrastructure to offer a unique customer experience.

Walkingmoms (Germany)

Walkingmoms is a community platform for parents and people with pushchairs; its aim is to make it easier to plan and execute trips with pushcairs through the city by diagnosing barrier issues on public transport, prioritising solutions to those barriers, and offering alternatives routes.

ENDS

About Toyota Mobility Foundation

The Toyota Mobility Foundation was established in August 2014 to support the development of a more mobile society. The Foundation aims to promote strong mobility systems while eliminating disparities in mobility. It uses Toyota’s expertise in technology, safety, and the environment, working in partnership with universities, government, non-profit organisations, research institutions and other organisations to address mobility issues around the world. Programmes include resolving urban transportation problems, expanding the utilisation of personal mobility, and developing solutions for the next generation mobility.