Automated Generation of Indoor Accessibility Information for Mobility-Impaired Individuals

One section of the general population that can greatly benefit from the current interest in indoor navigation systems comprises the various disabled groups. In developing assistive navigation systems an important issue is how to obtain information relevant for navigation from the perspective of these special user groups. The theory of affordances coupled with computer-based simulation offers a solution for automated extraction of this information from readily available sources architectural floor plans. Simulation of movement in space can be used to derive a user-relative selection of accessible space by comparing the degree of match between the geometrical demands of navigation and the relevant physical properties of the environment. We also investigate what is the right level of representation of the environment for running the simulations as well as deriving higher-level networks of places and their connections that facilitate orientation and the interaction between user and navigation system.