Making life easier for wheelchair users

Two teams of students have joined hands with the goal of making wheelchair users’ lives in Thailand easier via the development of the “Wheel-go-round” website and application, which provide up-to-date information on accessible facilities for the wheelchair-bound.

The group comprises graduates studying business administration (international programme) at Thammasat University’s Faculty of Commerce and Accountancy, and students from the Microsoft Student Partners programme.

Lipda Jarutian, a Thammasat team member in the Wheel-go-round group, said the idea behind the programme was sparked by the day-to-day problems faced by wheelchair users in accessing information on places that are easily accessible and wheelchair-friendly. 

“Wheelchair users encounter problems regarding access to places and facilities, and their daily commutes are often fraught with difficulties. Some wheelchair users avoid going out and choose to stay at home because of the inconvenience of going out to new places. 

“This is because information about places equipped with facilities for wheelchair users is not currently up to date. There is a lot of information that has not been included into a system,” she said.

Lipda said the Thammsat team had joined Microsoft’s “Innovate for Good” programme in order to come up with a solution to help wheelchair users. They met a team in the Microsoft Student Partners programme, and the two then decided to jointly develop a website and application. 

The concept of Wheel-go-round is to provide wheelchair facility information to both wheelchair users and their helpers. At the website (www.wheelgoround.in.th www.wheelgoround.in.th) – and on Facebook (www.facebook.com/wheelgoround www.facebook.com/wheelgoround) – there is up-to-date information on facilities such as ramps, restrooms and parking spaces for wheelchair users. 

The program also selects places that are convenient for wheelchair users, and suggests travel routes via the website. Information can be found efficiently and quickly, and then be shared with others.

The website aims to encourage wheelchair users as well as their helpers to enjoy new experiences by taking advantage of information on places that have been shared on www.wheelgoround.in.th www.wheelgoround.in.th as well as on Facebook.

It is also a way to establish relationships among the community of wheelchair users, said Lipda. 

With the Wheel-go-round application, a user can select a place they want to visit, with choices covering daily-life and leisure places, such as shopping malls, hotels, restaurants, tourist destinations, hospitals and government agency offices. 

Transportation services such as main rail stations, Skytrain stations and airports in Bangkok and Chon Buri are also included. 

The app uses augmented reality, a technology that integrates a live, real-world environment into the search and display of facility information in real time, such as a ramp to a building, a restroom or a parking space for a wheelchair user. 

With the app, a wheelchair user can share places to visit, travel information and new facilities by taking a picture, writing a comment and sharing them in the application. This is a way to help update the database among users, said Lipda. 

The application, which will be publicly available for download in the middle of this month, is originally available in English. After the app is ready for download at a Windows Store, the Wheel-go-round team plans to develop an application for other platforms – and will add a Thai-language function soon, she added. 

“The app development went through an extensive testing period and we worked closely with real wheelchair users at every stage of the process to ensure that it really worked for them and would help them get about their daily lives,” she said.

 

Wide support

The development of the Wheel-go-round programme has been supported by Microsoft (Thailand) together with the Thai Health Promotion Foundation (ThaiHealth) and the Tourism Authority of Thailand. 

The team participated in the Innovate for Good programme, part of Microsoft’s YouthSpark initiative, which aims to create opportunities and provide educational and technological support for Thais aged 16 to 30 who want to make a positive impact in the communities and society they live in. 

The application has been endorsed by both the ThaiHealth and the TAT.

Siriporn Pajharawat, director of Microsoft (Thailand)’s Developer & Platform Strategy, said the company is delighted to be able to support the Wheel-go-round team and their very worthwhile initiative, which helps improve the lives of those who use wheelchairs in Thailand. 

The Wheel-go-round application, which can be used on any Windows phone, acts as an online information hub for accessible attractions, hotels and restaurants in Bangkok and surrounding areas, which will be of benefit to all wheelchair users, she said.