Suppose you want to go to the Rijksmuseum on foot. Navigation apps determine the shortest path from your location to the Rijksmuseum based on one objective (i.e., criterion), which is most often the length of the path. However, considering only the length of the path is often not sufficient for people with mobility issues and those who use assistive devices, such as wheelchairs, strollers, and canes. They have different and many needs with respect to the accessibility of sidewalks. For example, they might prefer to take a longer path which has fewer crossings than a shorter path with more crossings. They might even prefer to take only those sidewalks which have a certain width. Hence, this accessibility, and especially the lack thereof, of the paths results in additional and different objectives. This research is part of the broader project Amsterdam For All, which aims to help Amsterdam citizens with mobility issues to find the most accessible sidewalks, with respect to their specific needs. To cater to different people, this will be done through a highly user-dependent app. The focus of this research is on creating an interactive algorithm which can output only those paths the users are likely to prefer to take, given their specific accessibility needs, from and to their desired destinations.
Author: Alisa Todorova
This research was conducted by Alisa Todorova from the Department of Advanced Computing Sciences - Faculty of Science and Engineering, Maastricht University in collaboration with the AI Team, Urban Innovation and R&D, City of Amsterdam.
Involved civil servants: Diederik M. Roijers and Shayla Jansen
Supervisors: Diederik M. Roijers, Shayla Jansen
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