GoodMaps scanning at Smith Memorial took place in May | Photo courtesy of Randy Mischler
Portland State University is one of the first spaces in the Northwest to be outfitted with GoodMaps, an app that uses scanning technology to map buildings in detail, and provide wayfinding for its users. The technology, developed by Louisville-based GoodMaps, a startup born out of the American Printing House for the Blind, is especially useful for blind or visually impaired users.
“Mobility is a civil right,” said Amy Parker, coordinator of PSU’s Orientation and Mobility Program. “So it's exciting to get to partner with someone like GoodMaps and the innovation they provide around wayfinding and public access.”
Wayfinding, using technology to guide people through a physical environment, has been a particular interest for Parker, who began studying the issue with Martin Swobodzinski, assistant professor of Geography, a few years ago and set up beacons in the Millar Library to send digital information like signage to the users’ phone.
“Scanning technology has grown by leaps and bounds in terms of what it can represent, in terms of 3D dimensional space and volumetric maps of space,” Parker said. “What’s so beautiful about GoodMaps is it’s much much easier to use. It provides a whole new awareness of what’s available.”
Finding not just where the elevator is, for example, but where resources for the queer community, people of color or people who have children, is much easier with the GoodMaps app.
“Having information like that where it’s more accessible to everyone is huge,” Parker added. “It represents the best kind of thinking PSU can do, walking the walk of ‘Let Knowledge Serve the City.’”
GoodMaps collaborated with Intel as part of the Intel RISE Technology Initiative to develop indoor wayfinding solutions that improve navigation for all, but particularly people with vision or mobility impairments. With this partnership in place, GoodMaps and Intel began mapping the Smith Memorial Student Union building in May 2021. They used Lidar mapping, which is more accurate than GPS and allows someone — in this case Randy Mischler, Marketing and Communications Coordinator for Campus Events & Student Union — to edit the maps after scanning and add labels, common-sense descriptions of each room and formal designations that otherwise wouldn’t be available. Mischler said the entire mapping process took only a few hours and required a rig resembling a backpack to record the building. Once the building was added to GoodMaps’ database in December, the labeling process could begin.
“It makes it a lot easier to navigate. It makes me feel less stressed and more confident traveling,” said Lillian Goodman, a PSU student with a visual impairment who tested GoodMaps. “I would imagine even if I was going to a new location and there was indoor navigation, I think I would feel empowered.”
Damkerng Mungthanya, another PSU student with a visual impairment who has utilized GoodMaps, described using the app like walking with friends.
“If we have GoodMaps in every building, every place, I can travel with confidence that I will go to the right place,” Mungthanya said. “I will be safe.”
GoodMaps will also be discussed more in-depth during this year’s Mobility Matters Conference on March 3. More details are available at https://sites.google.com/pdx.edu/mobilitymatters2022.