Lausanne: TL promotes the emancipation of the blind

While blind people need to do guided scouting before setting off on a route alone, an innovation is being implemented on the M2 metro line in Lausanne. A consortium made up of the start-up Biped, TL (Public Transport of the Lausanne region) and the SME Urbagestion is developing a unique mobility solution in the world: the first completely autonomous journey for a blind person to a new destination.

“The idea is to demonstrate that blind people can go to an appointment without knowing the route in advance,” presents Maël Fabien. The director and co-founder of the company Biped.ai has reached the industrial phase of his harness which, thanks to its sensors, transmits spatialized sound alerts via a small headset. It allows its users to determine the position of obstacles. The on-board artificial intelligence interprets a pedestrian’s environment, while deciphering GPS indications.

Local anchoring

The solution proposed by Biped is gradually taking over abroad. But in the region, Maël Fabien only has two users. Its system, called Noa, is in the evaluation phase with disability insurance. The reimbursement of a device worth more than 4000 francs. will be crucial for its adoption in Switzerland. In the meantime, the young boss is delighted to see his creation take root with local partners.

The objective is in fact to adapt this invention to the conditions of public transport and inside buildings, where the GPS signal does not pass. For TL, this involves enabling Noa to connect to information intended for travelers and enabling testing in real conditions. “This system has a learning capacity and it will also have to learn to manage a crowd that we do not encounter outside of public transport,” rejoices Mathieu Menet, responsible for innovation at TL.

The manager presents TL in full transition. After working on accessibility issues, they move to an “inclusive” phase. “Our ambition is to offer the conditions of total autonomy to all our users, whatever their specific needs,” he says. Mathieu Menet confides that the TL had already tried this experiment in 2019: “The technology we have today was then lacking.”

Cantonal initiative

The project called NIM (Independent Navigation for Visually Impaired People) is a step in this direction. The collaboration extends to the company Urbagestion, specialized in the management of complex neighborhoods. She brings her knowledge of building technology to promote indoor navigation using maps and location sensors.

Initially, the route will allow you to reach a Biopôle building by taking the M2, before extending the route towards the EPFL. “Ultimately, we can imagine mapping all public buildings and museums to make them accessible (editor’s note: autonomously) to the blind.”

This technological collaboration between local players is the result of a cantonal initiative, led by Innovaud. The SyNNergy program is in fact intended to promote the emergence of solutions for digital transition. “This program was born from the observation that SMEs do not always have the resources or skills to begin their digital transition,” indicates Arnaud Croisier, program manager at Innovaud. Several projects were born from this initiative. In this case, the start-up, the TL and the SME benefit from coaching and aid of 90,000 francs. covering half of the costs.

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Alain Détraz has been a journalist for the Vaud section of “24 Heures” since 2005. After covering various areas of local news, he has been in charge of the Vaud Economy page since 2022.More informations

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