New London Underground app for visually impaired travellers

A new mobile phone app has been created to help guide visually impaired people around the London Underground.

The Wayfindr app is currently being trialled by blind and partially sighted people at Pimlico tube station. It works by tracking the user’s location through Bluetooth beacons, which send signals to their mobile phone. Audio instructions then guide the user to the correct platform or exit.

The app was developed by digital production company ustwo and was created in response to feedback from the Royal London Society for Blind People. The RLSB’s Youth Forum wanted to be able to navigate the London Underground without assistance.