Andri would like a barrier-free alarm system in the train so that he can alert and inform the railway police during an emergency situation.

About Andri

Andri has actually been deaf since birth, but back then at the age of almost 3 years, this could not be clearly diagnosed. He was initially diagnosed as hard of hearing but later confirmed as deaf. Usually, he does not need company and is mostly independent. In his free time, he enjoys boating and sailing and is aware of the risk of being alone on the water and how dangerous it can be (risk of fire or capsizing).

Challenge

The SBB trains are equipped with alarm buttons that trigger a call to the railway police. The person on the train who raises the alarm can then talk to the railway police using an intercom system. But how can people with hearing impairments report emergency calls on public transport? Luckily, Andri has never been in an emergency situation where communication caused him difficulties. Nevertheless, he worries about how to best react in such a situation. He would like a solution that helps him alarm quickly and easily. The aim of this project is to develop a barrier-free alarm system and integrate it into the SBB inclusive app so that Andri can inform the railway police during an emergency situation. This project is supported by SBB.

Solution

The impressive result of this challenge is a clickable prototype that visualizes the alerting process for deaf and hard of hearing people, as well as a first draft of a simple Android app. A new function in the SBB Inclusive app will enable deaf or hard of hearing people seeking help to make an emergency call to the transport police using ProCom, a sign language translation service. People seeking help can voluntarily provide some information using icons before the connection is established: What happened? Where is the person? Who is affected? It would also be possible to send photos or further information in the form of text to facilitate communication and shorten response times in an emergency.

This progress represents an essential step towards realizing a barrier-free emergency system. The new developments have the ability to break the silence in an emergency and give deaf and hard of hearing passengers like Andri the means to become visible and audible in an emergency,