Development of a Mobile Navigation Smartphone Application for Seniors in Urban Areas

Principal Investigator: Kelvin Cheu

The Problem

Many seniors face mobility issues and lifestyle changes, such as switching from driving to using a carpool, taxi or fixed-route or demand-responsive public transportation. While there are many navigation apps on the market, very few cater to the specific mobility needs of seniors (such as incorporating information on ADA compliant infrastructure), and the few that exist have limited functions.

Development of a Mobile Navigation Smartphone Application for Seniors in Urban Areas

Principal Investigator: Kelvin Cheu

Aims

This project aims to understand the lifestyle and mobility needs of seniors and to develop a prototype smartphone smart mobility application that caters to those needs.

Development of a Mobile Navigation Smartphone Application for Seniors in Urban Areas

Principal Investigator: Kelvin Cheu

The researchers worked with the City of El Paso to conduct surveys at senior centers in the city to learn what features and functionality are most important to the app's potential users. The survey's results showed that respondents want driving navigation functions, with options to choose routes based on their main concerns, such as avoiding traffic congestion or parking availability.

The findings from this survey will be used to design and develop an app. The prototype will undergo pilot testing in El Paso and New York, and feedback from testers will be used to improve the app's functionality.

Deliverables

The main deliverable for this project was a smartphone navigation app that addresses the specific mobility needs and priorities of seniors, improving their ability to travel around their cities. After the prototype was developed, the researchers recruited seniors to test the app for a few weeks, and then gathered their feedback.

In order to find out what features would be most useful to their target user group, the researchers surveyed of more than 450 seniors in El Paso, Texas. The survey covered demographic information, lifestyle factors, and transportation habits and needs.

The logo for the proposed app

Key Survey Findings

37% of respondents reported no disabilities. Of those with disabilities, walking (24%), visual (21%) and hearing (19%) are the most common impairments.
The majority of the participants (62%) reported that traffic congestion and parking are their biggest challenges when commuting in the city, followed by walking issues (15%).

Navigation is the most desired app function (53%), followed by bus routes (20%) and accessibility (13%).
The results showed that navigation functionality would be the biggest motivator to use the app (47%), along with ease of use (30%).

Final Report

Research Brief

Outreach

The UTEP team made numerous efforts to reach out to their target user group, both to gather data that inform the design of the Urban Connector app and to publicize the app and its features.

Dr. Gina Nuñez, associate professor of anthropology at UTEP and project team member, appeared with David Lopez from the City of El Paso Parks and Recreation Department on the El Paso Community College Television Channel to discuss the app.

The UTEP team has launched a Youtube channel and produced a video that explains the functions of the Urban Connector app, available in both English and Spanish.

Project Webinar

Personnel

KELVIN CHEU

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

JOSEPH CHOW

CO-PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

NATALIA VILLANUEVA-ROSALES

CO-PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

GUILLERMINA GINA NUNEZ-MCHIRI

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR

MATT VECHIONE

PH.D. STUDENT

RAUL ALEJANDRO VARGAS ACOSTA

PH.D. STUDENT

CORINA MARRUFO

MASTER’S STUDENT

OKAN GURBUZ

PH.D. STUDENT

MARIA JIMENEZ

PH.D. STUDENT

Project Details

Principal Investigator	Kelvin Cheu (UTEP)
Co-Principal Investigator	Natalia Villanueva-Rosales (UTEP), Joseph Chow (NYU)
Funding Source	C2SMART: $140,000 University of Texas at El Paso (cost-match): $70,000
Total Project Cost	$210,000
USDOT Award #	69A3551747124
Start and End Dates	3/1/2017 – 5/31/2019
Implementation of Research Outcomes	This project will deliver a smartphone application prototype (in Android platform). The application will be available for free download at C2SMART website and Google Play store. This project will also collect data, document the preference of smartphone application features and document user experience by the seniors.
Impacts/Benefits of Implementation	This project will develop a smartphone application that caters to the needs of seniors in urban setting. Seniors who use this application are expected to experience improved mobility, connections with society and activity options. The data collected from the application program will lead to new ideas for other smart mobility services. The experience gained in developing this smartphone application will benefit future C2SMART projects that will use smartphone for data collection and integration of heterogeneous data transparent to the user. For example, the smartphone application may be used as a tool to collect activity data from participants of future projects.

Deliverables

Key Survey Findings

Outreach

Project Webinar

Personnel

KELVIN CHEU

JOSEPH CHOW

NATALIA VILLANUEVA-ROSALES

GUILLERMINA GINA NUNEZ-MCHIRI

MATT VECHIONE

RAUL ALEJANDRO VARGAS ACOSTA

CORINA MARRUFO

OKAN GURBUZ

MARIA JIMENEZ

Project Details

Related Posts

Leave a Reply Cancel reply