Article
On Supporting University Communities in Indoor Wayfinding:
An Inclusive Design Approach
Catia Prandi
1,2
, Giovanni Delnevo
1,
* , Paola Salomoni
1
and Silvia Mirri
1
Citation: Prandi, C.; Delnevo, G.;
Salomoni, P.; Mirri, S. On Supporting
University Communities in Indoor
Wayfinding: An Inclusive Design
Approach. Sensors 2021, 21, 3134.
https://doi.org/10.3390/s21093134
Academic Editor: Joanna Kolodziej
Received: 24 March 2021
Accepted: 28 April 2021
Published: 30 April 2021
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1
Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Bologna, 40126 Bologna, Italy;
catia.prandi2@unibo.it (C.P.); paola.salomoni@unibo.it (P.S.); silvia.mirri@unibo.it (S.M.)
2
ITI-LARSyS, 9020-105 Funchal, Portugal
* Correspondence: giovanni.delnevo2@unibo.it
Abstract:
Mobility can be defined as the ability of people to move, live and interact with the space. In
this context, indoor mobility, in terms of indoor localization and wayfinding, is a relevant topic due
to the challenges it presents, in comparison with outdoor mobility, where GPS is hardly exploited.
Knowing how to move in an indoor environment can be crucial for people with disabilities, and in
particular for blind users, but it can provide several advantages also to any person who is moving in
an unfamiliar place. Following this line of thought, we employed an inclusive by design approach
to implement and deploy a system that comprises an Internet of Things infrastructure and an
accessible mobile application to provide wayfinding functions, targeting the University community.
As a real word case study, we considered the University of Bologna, designing a system able to be
deployed in buildings with different configurations and settings, considering also historical buildings.
The final system has been evaluated in three different scenarios, considering three different target
audiences (18 users in total): i. students with disabilities (i.e., visual and mobility impairments);
ii. campus students; and iii. visitors and tourists. Results reveal that all the participants enjoyed
the provided functions and the indoor localization strategy was fine enough to provide a good
wayfinding experience.
Keywords:
indoor wayfinding; indoor localization technologies; inclusive design; BLE beacon;
Internet of Things; people with disabilities
1. Introduction
Finding the appropriate position and direction in the environment is an important
issue for human beings since a long time ago. In fact, many of the most important human
activities are based on the capabilities of orientating and independently moving in the
space and in the surrounding environment [1,2].
Its importance is evident even in Greek mythology: Ariadne’s string had a significant
role, being a mean that let Theseus retrace his way out of the labyrinth of the Minotaur.
Nowadays, modern Ariadne’s strings are supporting people in orientating and in moving
within buildings and across urban environments. Basically, they are the result of the
exploitation of mobile devices equipped with sensors that receive signals from external
sources, employing specific positioning and wayfinding algorithms.
Even though radio waves of the satellites propagate for enormous distances, in the
proximity of the user they can encounter obstacles, such as walls, roofs, or vegetation that
can inhibit their reception. For this reason, inside buildings, it is unlikely to receive a usable
GPS signal to translate the navigation services designed for the outside into enclosed
spaces. Therefore, it is necessary, in order to accurately localize individuals in indoor
environment and to provide them wayfinding and navigation support, to find alternative
technologies [3].
The wide diffusion of smartphones and the emergence of IoT infrastructures and
smart objects have been only a small part of the huge technological revolution, that has
Sensors 2021, 21, 3134. https://doi.org/10.3390/s21093134 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/sensors
