---

1. Title of exploratory project

SESAMONET
(SEcure and SAfe MObility NET)

2. Objectives

The objective of this inter-Units proposal is the development of an integrated system, to increase mobility of people with disability and their personal safety and security, by:

• identifying a secure path to walk through selected areas, particularly for people with visual or other disability;
• giving real time information on their position and the surrounding environment;
• increasing their personal safety in case of accident or calamities through location of their position;
• enhancing security for emergency situations, extending the experience to other scenarios, as access of firemen to public buildings, or driving in the fog.

This may be done by the use of transponders. We have already reached a good experience in this field for animal tagging. Transponders are available for reuse for this new application, thus allowing a reliable and low cost solution. All the associated technology (i.e. readers, antennas, database structure) is already developed and has just to be customized to the new application.
This system, if correctly implemented in a design for all approach, can be of great help for all users, particularly those with disability, adding independence to their life. After tests the system's applications may be extended to other categories of users and other situations.

3. Current state-of-the-art

To the best of our knowledge no systems with the indicated characteristics are presently available on the market. Some more complex and expensive systems have been installed in a few locations, with limits in the RF reference points, based not on passive transponders, but on active emitters, of a certain cost and requiring maintenance and power supply. The Walk Assistant installed by ENEA in Bologna and a few other towns gave interesting results, but the fixed system is rather difficult and expensive to install, while the portable equipment is rather large and heavy to carry. Satellite based GPS navigator systems allow a few meters precision, not enough accurate for this aim, and may help only outside the buildings.

4. Scientific novelty of the exploratory research project

This innovative solution will allow:

• to trace a path to guide users, particularly those with visual or other disability;
• to increase personal safety for people with disability in case of accident or natural hazard;
• very reliable, low cost;
• possibility of modification in real time of the database to take into account shops and services relocation.

The scientific novelty of the project is also confirmed by the fact that a patent has been obtained on the last days (see point 10).

5. Why should the research be carried out as exploratory research and not in the framework institutional work

Because it is an innovative project that requires a preliminary exploratory research in order to develop a prototype demonstrator to be in the future customized to the needs of the final end users.

6. Why should the JRC carryout this project

Because an European Institution like the JRC should take a lead role to develop this technology and to spread it later for use for the advantage of the community of people with disability, as well as for other users.

(7. In case of ongoing projects only)

8. Work to be carried out, research methods/techniques, and deliverables

The work to be carried out is:

• to embed passive transponders into the soil to form a RF path to guide the user;
• to develop or adapt a reader to identify the RF path;
• to build a database to correlate the position of the transponders to information related to the surrounding environment;
• eventually to integrate traffic lights at crosswalk;
• possible integration with GPS.

The system relies on existing technology to be customized for this special application:

• The transponders used for this application are passive, with a long lifetime, hermetically encapsulated and can be easily reused. The transponders after cleaning and testing can be embedded into the sidewalk pavement to give a continuous RF path to guide an antenna through the city, parks or selected areas also inside buildings or malls. The antenna can be installed either on a wheel chair or inside the stick of a visually impaired person. The antenna interrogates the transponders and receives a signal back from them to guide the user from a starting point to his desired location.
• A database, linked to the transponder number (each transponder has a unique identification number), can be used and continuously kept updated to give additional information to the user. Information related to the shops in front of a transponder can be stored into the database and retrieved through an inquiry by the user. For example a user with visual impairment can plan his walk through town and can be guided in front of the shop or of the service he needs. If the shop changes location or time schedule, the user will be informed directly by the database when planning his walk, and guided to the new location.
• The transponders can be easily glued inside a hole drilled in the pavement. Additional active transponders can be added to the system to warn the user with visual impairment at the traffic lights. A signal will inform the user of the presence of a traffic light, an other signal will give him the OK for the green light.

The results of the research will be a pilot demo path to demonstrate the feasibility and usefulness of the original idea.

The deliverables will be:

• a user needs analysis;
• a pilot project including the RF path made of passive transponders, the light stick including the antenna, database, software and vocal guidance to the user;
• a Web Site to include specific information on the system and on the paths already equipped with this technology, with software and data that may be downloaded on the portable system before travelling to visit a specific location;
• a final report with all the results of the research, loaded also on the project's Web Site to ensure larger dissemination;
• the project's Web Site will follow the WAI accessibility rules in order to be accessible also by people with visual or other disability.

9. Very brief description of scientific background of proposed team leader/team members and list of up to five relevant publications per team

The team of is inter-Units proposal will be:

• Graziano Azzalin, Researcher at JRC with background in electronic identification;
• Giuliano Pirelli, Researcher at JRC with background in voice recognition for people with disability;
• Marco Sironi, Researcher at JRC with background in safeguards, sealing and identification (team leader);
• a few associations of people with disability and other users expressed their willingness to participate to the project (please see next point 10); according to their views, two subtitles are under discussion, looking for better acronyms, as for instance: LIGHT (Light Indicators to Go on Handicap Transponders) or AZIMUT (Autonome Safe&Secure Interconnection Mobility Universal Transponders).

The basic idea is that of a large cross-table on different disabilities, different actors, different technical aids and different aspects of safety and security: JRC could concentrate on a few cells to demonstrate that research is fundamental in order to improve the quality of life of all people.
So far, the VOICE Project has covered the cell of voice recognition for people with hearing impairment, and more generally of information technology aids for people with disability and of television subtitling for overcoming languages barriers for all users. The present project will cover a few other cells and demonstrate the possibility of transferring the experiences acquired in the field of electronic identification towards other users and needs.

10. Possible follow-up (e.g. institutional actions, competitive projects).

Full implementation of the system in cooperation with local authorities, cooperation with associations of people with disability (the Spanish ONCE, the Italian UIC, the European Disability Forum EDF,…) as well as with international emergency and security systems.
The style of this submission paper has to be improved, and in case represented later on with a few collaboration declarations by the associations and other parties interested in the project. When contacted in a rather general and informal way, they confirmed their high interest. We could not go into further details, since we considered important to hide them until a patent could protect the basic idea.
The patent "Recycling transponders used for animal tagging, to build a safe mobility net for disable" has been obtained on the 26/10/2004, this allowing further contacts in the next weeks.
Deeper discussion and possible collaboration with other DGs may arise at the next InterService Group on Disability, which will be held on the 23/11/2004 in Brussels, where Giuliano Pirelli will present the JRC activities in the field of disability.

11. Resources: specific credits and persons months. Specific credits should be fully justified.

• 10000 Euro for each year for specific hardware/software equipment, as sticks and interfaces for users with visual disability or screen readers for Webaccessibility development and tests;
• 4 man-months per year, for two years, for each person of the above staff (total 12 man-months for each year).

---