Evolution of Social Problem-solving Methodology
SPEAKER: Siwan, Lee (CEO, LBS Tech)
LBS Tech is a startup that defines and solves social problems by providing a platform for the use and mobility of people with visual and physical disabilities. It supports people with disabilities in “using” ordering, payment and reservation services efficiently. On the other hand, it also provides convenient “mobility” services by providing building information, pedestrian navigation, and user location information. The fundamental basis of the systems comes from careful consideration of cities.
Cities today are less disability-friendly than we think, which raises the need for improvement. Accessibility deeply connects with the right to mobility. People with disabilities go through harder times than we think. The transportation-vulnerable, in particular, has a low satisfaction level when it comes to transportation. This is because the pedestrian environment is not supportive to the mobility disadvantaged persons. Pedestrian passages and sidewalks are partly to blame, but the expansion of mobility services, such as scooters, also causes various obstacles. Thus, we are collecting the relevant data to solve these problems. Aside from private institutions, the government is paying attention to these issues and providing various maps or guidance to improve the safety and accessibility of people with disabilities.
The government has sufficient data on automatic driving-based roads but lacks pedestrian information. The pedestrian passages are privately owned and managed separately, so the nationally owned public database (DB) was not enough to approach the issue. We know that quick data collection and response are the best solution for this problem. As such, we searched for a quick way to establish the database with users and grasped problems based on experiences shared by multiple experts and people with disabilities. Then, we realized that the most practical and valuable data was “users’ real-life experiences.”
Social Mapping is a mapping service project that targets people with disabilities and mobility disadvantaged persons. Whenever an obstacle arises during walking, users take and save pictures to collect and record real-life experiences. Senior citizens or volunteers continuously update the pedestrian environment by setting and surveying routes themselves, and people with physical disabilities collect environmental information such as the speed and vibration of their wheelchairs. Moreover, AI-based systems detect obstacles interrupting people with physical disabilities from walking smoothly, and data shows whether the obstacles lower the stability of wheelchairs and moving objects. Numerous barriers get in the way of people with disabilities using pedestrian routes. We realized the extreme urgency of sustainable management measures to unify and systematize pedestrian information. Thus, we repeatedly collected data for a specific period to collect various types of obstacles in different time zones. We successfully established the control system based on the accumulated data, detailed advice, and vivid experiences. The purpose of this process was to advance the classification of technologies and services that reflect users’ experiences to enhance the geographic information system (GIS).
Users’ routes, our first discussion, can be categorized into two parts. Users either search and find routes themselves or get oral information about the route from acquaintances. People with visual disabilities memorize the provided route information and walk accordingly. Therefore, whether users with visual disabilities have experience is extremely important. For now, we considered the collection of information meaningful enough and gathered users’ route information through the system.
Second is the pedestrian (transportation) environment. We installed a vibration detection device (smartphone) on the wheelchair to detect vibrations and collected information about the pedestrian environment, such as tilt angles. We built the control system to manage data collected in time gaps to upgrade users’ experiences systematically. The acquired image information is then deeply analyzed by AI technology to classify the pedestrian passage type. Such analysis might lead to the creation of substantial insights. Currently, location information is being collected through riders and MMS systems in autonomous form, enabling the collection of obstacle status information of fixed obstacles, traffic signals, bollards, and fences. We are unaware of many unspecified obstacles, such as manholes, ice, billboards in front of stores, trash piled on roads, illegally parked cars, or newsstands. Such obstacles are significant variables that threaten users with disabilities. Environmental elements, such as ice formation and floods driven by the weather, hinder and block the walking range as the most crucial factor. Therefore, the relevant information should be collected to draw certain standards for securing the walking range.
We also have technological limitations getting in the way. Current technologies cannot accurately predict road conditions when collecting environmental information, ice formation status, and condition of geothermal heat. However, we can collect valuable information through users’ experiences by taking pictures and detecting risk elements. Based on these experiences, we make a detailed classification of the obstacles. First, we sort them according to the conditions and situations, and obstacles arising from situations make up human and environmental elements. Maps formed in such way indicate layers, pedestrian obstacles, and risks based on facilities. Essential information is processed for an intuitive guide, with the corresponding control system formed into various API types or standard types to share with diverse institutions. This attempt will obviously serve as a process to solve social issues.
However, attempts to establish an interface for people with disabilities will not instantly enhance the right to mobility and basic rights. We need to quickly establish data and information for sustainable and visible management. Thus, we must thoroughly integrate the interface and database in the first place and meticulously consider the update cycle, method, and standard to create a beneficial system for users with disabilities.
Social matters are never independent but closely related to various stakeholders and external elements. As such, every related matter must be considered. For instance, braille blocks for people with visual disabilities might get in the way of pedestrians in wheelchairs. Therefore, we must collect pedestrian passage information ensuring the right to mobility to maintain and expand services that benefit everyone, not just pedestrians with visual and physical disabilities.
As the collected data includes actual experiences and feedback of users with disabilities, a citizen participatory map may be established later on based on users’ needs and purposes; thus, forming a continuous virtuous cycle. The creator is the user, leading the system, so the social mapping project is a citizen participatory program with core values providing solutions to social problems.
We intend to make city into an accessible one and enhance the availability of the city based on experience. We aim to establish a smart city that satisfies the majority of users. Smart cities are not ideal areas that are solely based on technologies. They are comprehensive communities that re-connect and benefit many citizens. Unfortunately, our survey on smart cities indicates that people with disabilities find that cities today have extremely low accessibility levels. This implies that our cities must accomplish balanced growth by focusing on the most disadvantaged groups instead of the most privileged ones. We must face and respond to social issues in the shoes of the most vulnerable group.
Our project expansion strategies aim to establish a standardized city that embraces everyone, from people with visual disabilities and physical disabilities to the elderly. Our purpose of satisfying everyone raised our awareness of users facing the most challenging situations and motivated us to establish systems for the socially disadvantaged. We thought of a variety of ways to acquire information more easily while presenting practical solutions for the visually disadvantaged. Now, we will be able to set strategies for the elderly, too.
Launching businesses and services for marginalized or vulnerable groups in our society is not an easy journey. If people with visual disabilities can understand the information, however, other users will surely have no problem with it. If people with physical disabilities can pass through the pedestrian passage and understand pedestrian information, the passage and information will benefit other people with disabilities, too. Our attempts do not aim at providing pedestrian information for autonomous delivery robots to reach the destination or vehicle-centered routes; instead, we deeply consider and focus on collecting pedestrian-centered information to expand our understanding of routes and set specific standards.
As a result, our purpose presents more benefits and convenience not only to people with disabilities but to everyone in society. Our business experiences bring conviction about our purpose and highlight the fact that technologies do not exist for particular groups of targets but everyone in society. I hope today’s case will be shared as a model case, supporting researchers and officials in conducting continuous research on social issues.
