APPLICATIONS

Access to accurate positioning in downtown areas as well as inside buildings has given a new life to multimedia guides, furthering the development of new services better adapted to the needs of users in urban areas.

Thanks to NAO products which provide excellent positioning accuracy and service availability, as well as a seamless transition between indoors and outdoors, the user has access to continual guidance throughout the city including in courtyards, covered passageways and monuments. The user is sent complete, relevant information in the exact spot where it is useful. Information about cultural events, historic buildings, public transportation options and any other information can be sent to the user in real time in keeping with his or her position, either upon request or spontaneously based on criteria pre-defined by the user himself.

Video MyToulouse 2013
MyToulouse 2013 (MyT13) is a geolocalized cultural guide developed in Toulouse, in purpose of its candidacy for being the next European Capital of Culture

Convention center managers and events organizers are constantly on the lookout for competitive advantages to help them win market share (more shows, conventions and exhibitions) and attract more visitors. Visitors and exhibitors have access to more and more services.

Accurate positioningat exhibition sites, including inside exhibition areas and buildings, has given rise to new services such as location and guidance to a particular booth, making it easier to locate a coworker, plan appointments and optimize the time spent getting from one place to another within the exhibition center.

The option for the user to use his or her cell phone is obviously an advantage, as it can be easily consulted at all times.

The visibility of exhibitors can be increased by generating geo-localized advertising depending on criteria pre-determined by the visitor, opening up a new means of communication. A vast panel of multi-media communication tools are available from technical information sheets to demonstration films or a message announcing the time of a presentation, allowing exhibitors to target potential customers with relevant messages.

NAO technologies offer the performance of Indoor and Outdoor technologies which make possible the development of these new services.

It is extremely challenging for People with Reduced Mobility to get around owing to the lack of adapted signposting infrastructure (ie. in braille for example) and/or auditive guidance. In France, accessibility to public buildings, transportation, and streets is still challenging for people with reduced mobility, thus considerably reducing their autonomy.

For the visually impaired, seeing eye dogs provide invaluable assistance getting around. However, dogs are not able to guide their masters to an unknown destination. While no technology can replace a seeing eye dog (in terms of avoiding obstacles, reaching pedestrian crossings and assisting the visually impaired person on regular routes), NAO products can effectively provide orientation information to the blind and visually impaired allowing greater autonomy.

NAO products are especially adapted to the needs of People with Reduced Mobility.
NAO products provide the positioning accuracy and availability required to improve the performance of existing tools as well as being the basis of new services for the physically challenged.

New services essential for assisting people with reduced mobility include:

• Guidance specifically adapted to the needs of the visually impaired inside buildings such as shopping centers, administrative buildings, hospitals, train stations, airports, subway stations, etc.
• Seamless, continual guidance from inside to outside buildings.
• New guidance services for getting around urban environments (outside), enabling people with reduced mobility to plan routes and explore unfamiliar environments:
  • Reliable navigation information available at the right time and in the right place
  • Calculation of a route and guidance instructions adapted to access ramps for the physically challenged, width of doorways, availability of parking spots, remote control of urban infrastructure as a function of the exact position of the user, etc.
  • Accurate information upon arrival within a five meter radius
  • Reliable information about streets crossed (names of streets announced at each crossing)
  • Information about the position of odd and even building numbers in a street depending on the direction taken.

NAO products have made currently available navigation products more effective and user-friendly and have paved the way for the development of new services, both indoors in equipped buildings and outdoors in dense urban environments.