MINKA: New indoor navigation revolutionizes Marburg's university building!

MINKA: New indoor navigation revolutionizes Marburg's university building!

The Philipps University of Marburg has taken a significant step towards improving orientation in its buildings with the introduction of MINKA, its new indoor navigation. MINKA has been online since the beginning of the summer semester and is intended to enable improved navigation, especially for students, employees and guests of the university. The focus is on avoiding the frequent confusion in the numerous university buildings and making it easier to find important rooms such as seminar rooms, lecture halls and toilets. Loud uni-marburg.de Thirteen buildings have been successfully mapped so far.

Selecting a building and a floor on the MINKA map gives users a clear overview of the available rooms. These include the Old University at Lahntor, the new seminar building at Pilgrimstein and the multi-purpose building on the Lahnberge. In addition, all-gender toilets and parent-child rooms are clearly marked on the map as part of the equality work. The project coordination for MINKA lies in the Office of the Women and Equal Opportunities Officer, which also supports the current women and equal opportunities plan, which promotes structural safety and the removal of barriers.

Functionalities and user-friendliness

The application not only offers an interactive map that is integrated into the UniApp under “My Studies” and “Links”, but also allows you to set links to specific rooms. This is considered particularly helpful to ensure clear guidance at future events or meetings. Senior researcher Astrid Specht from MINTplus – MINTstartklar highlights how important MINKA is for user-friendliness on campus and points to the planned improvements to support visually impaired people.

In addition to mapping existing buildings, the aim is to integrate further facilities into MINKA. The university created a legend that includes various symbols, such as elevators, gender-neutral restrooms and lockers. All data is accessible on the website, which is based on the open source project OpenIndoor. The system was designed and adapted by students from Faculty 12 as part of advanced internships, supported by a joint initiative of the Equal Opportunities Office and the Graphics and Multimedia Programming AG in cooperation with Department IV - Building Management and Technology.

The importance of indoor navigation

The introduction of MINKA also represents a step towards inclusive design. The need for precise indoor navigation has been highlighted in various studies, such as in the article pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov, highlighted. Navigation indoors is often a challenge, especially for people with disabilities, including blind users. The use of modern technologies, such as Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons for positioning, offers promising approaches to improving spatial orientation, especially in buildings where GPS signals often fail.

A comprehensive design concept was developed to meet the needs of all users. This includes an easy-to-use mobile app that offers multiple features such as navigation to specific destinations, an “Around You” feature for nearby points of interest, and guided tours. A comprehensive evaluation has shown that user feedback is predominantly positive, particularly from users with disabilities who value the accessibility and the ability to navigate in a user-friendly manner.

The University of Marburg is well on the way to making indoor navigation not only functional, but also inclusive. The MINKA project shows how technology and social responsibility can be linked to make the university a better place for everyone. Users are encouraged to provide feedback in order to continually improve and expand the application.