BFW Würsburg, Germany

Berufsförderungswerk (BFW) Würsburg, Germany

For people who are blind or partially sighted, navigating an unfamiliar building is a daunting experience. Thanks to a partnership between KONE and BlindSquare, the students with visual impairments at Germany’s BFW Würsburg can ride the elevators and navigate the building independently, safely and confidently.

BUILDING FACTS

• Location: Würsburg, Germany
• Modernisation completed: 2019
• Building type: Educational & residential campus
• Segment: Public building
• Floors: 3
• Building population: 220
• Special technical building equipment: Bluetooth beacons for location identification

CHALLENGES

• Make the campus accessible for the vocational center’s residents and visitors, most of whom are blind or partially sighted
• Find a solution to enable people who are blind or partially sighted to ride the elevators in the building independently

SOLUTIONS

• Work with BFW Würsburg and BlindSquare to integrate the elevator with the BlindSquare smartphone accessibility wayfinding app using APIs in the elevators. This enables the BlindSquare app and the elevators to communicate with each other so people who are visually impaired and blind get audio guidance throughout their journey in the building.
• Install Bluetooth beacons for location identification enabling automated elevator calls
• Replace the old elevator with a new one

KONE SOLUTIONS

• KONE elevator API integration with BlindSquare
• 1 KONE MonoSpace® 500 elevator

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