New accessibility technology makes debut in Vaughan

June 3, 2015 12:00 a.m.

​City pilots Innovative Path System for people who are blind

Today, the City unveiled a new Innovative Path System that will maximize accessibility at Vaughan City Hall for people who are blind or partially sighted.

By piloting this technology, the City is making progress towards achieving its goal of creating an accessible community by 2025. In fact, Vaughan is the first municipality in Canada to implement this technology to demonstrate ways businesses in the City can become more accessible.

This new-to-Canada technology allows those who are living with vision loss to receive constant direction and spatial location of a mapped route within City Hall. Using an electronic walking cane and Bluetooth technology, a sensor detects and reads radio frequencies placed along the installed path. It then speaks to the user, providing all the information they need to navigate the location.

This pilot is a result of the City’s 2013 trade mission to Italy and its International Business Development Program. Working with Italian developer TaLav Systems Inc., Vaughan introduced the Innovative Path System into the North American market, utilizing Vaughan City Hall as a testing ground to demonstrate how technology and business play an important role in championing accessibility issues.

To showcase the new system and celebrate National Access Awareness Week, Mayor Maurizio Bevilacqua and Members of Council were joined by Marie-France Lalonde, MPP for Ottawa-Orléans and Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Economic Development, Employment and Infrastructure at an event at City Hall today.

QUOTES

“At the City of Vaughan, it is our goal to foster a community that is inclusive and respectful. We take pride in the excellent quality of life our residents enjoy and truly believe that an enlightened city is an inclusive city, where everyone is equally valued and appreciated. By piloting this Innovative Path System in City Hall, we are making City services more accessible to our community while demonstrating our mission to move this City forward without leaving anyone behind.”
-Mayor Maurizio Bevilacqua

QUICK FACTS

  • According to CNIB, 186,954 Ontarians live with vision loss.
  • National Access Awareness Week is an annual event that encourages Canadians to recognize and remove barriers faced by people with disabilities, and to celebrate achievements made by and for persons with disabilities.
  • The Vaughan International Commercializaiton Centre's programs and services support established businesses with the localization of international technologies to commercialize new, innovative products in addition to assisting local companies with the expertise required to modify or adapt their products for international export.
  • Focusing on such countries as Italy, Israel, China and the United States, the goal of the program is to position Vaughan as the gateway for economic activity in the Greater Toronto Area.
  • The development of the Innovative Path System technology started with research done by architect Pino Bilotti, national member of Italian Union for Blind and Partially Sighted (“Unione Italiana dei Ciechi e degli Ipovedenti”).

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