Lars would like an auditory tool that tells him the location of products so that he can shop independently.

About Lars

Lars contracted Stargardt's disease when he was young. This eye disease affects the central vision, so that he can perceive the periphery, but cannot see anything on which he focuses. Despite this, he completed an apprenticeship as a chef and worked in his dream job for almost 25 years. During this time, he only used a magnifying glass as an aid and managed his daily life completely independently. When he was banned from his profession for safety reasons, he had to reorient himself - after all, he had a family to support. After completing his training as an application developer, he is now looking forward to working at Access for All in Zurich, where he wants to make the digital world a little better for people with impairments.

Challenge

Lars usually goes shopping with his eldest son, who helps him find the required products. For Lars, this would be very tedious and time-consuming due to his low visual loss. Lars would like to have an aid that allows him to navigate independently through the store and auditory tells him the location of desired products on the shelf.

Solution

The team's main focus in this challenge was to address all of Lars' needs while keeping in mind that the concept should be transferrable to a real-world shop. As Lars' first priority was to identify products on shelves, the team focused on the localization of a product near him. Based on Lidl's price tags that are equipped with NFC and the given order on the shelves, Lars can scan any price tag with his smartphone to receive information about where the target product is, e.g. "chocolate yogurt is the third item to your right". Because the entire shop is structured in a known order and the location of each product is tied to a specific shelf, this concept can be widened to shelf search. Finally, Lars can enter a shop and scan a random product to get information on his current location and guidance to a desired product on his shopping list. He will receive indications to find the correct shelf first and the target product second. Whenever he gets lost, he can simply scan another random product to get updated info. The concept is purely based on existing infrastructure. We strive to make this new shopping experience available publicly in the near future.