Frankfurt/Main (dpa/lhe) – The smartphone is intended to make it easier for people with a mental or physical disability to experience nature. With the support of the Techniker Krankenkasse (TK) Hessen, the State Association for Physically and Multiple Disabilities (LVKM) Hessen has had an app developed that offers people with disabilities specially prepared information to find their way around in the forest.
The offer exists for the so-called wild boar route in the Taunus. In concrete terms, the visually impaired receive acoustic signals or spoken information. The hearing-impaired receive navigation instructions via images or videos with sign language. The app helps people with cognitive disabilities with information in simple language. Those with limited mobility can have alternative routes calculated.
The hiking trail has been adapted for this purpose so that digital and analogue worlds intertwine. With the digital project, TK sees an opportunity to enable a contemporary offer that is geared to people’s needs and promotes their digital participation. According to LVKM, the app can already be used and will be further expanded in February. An “inauguration walk” is planned for March 23.
“So far there have been hardly any nature experience offers that those affected can access on their own,” says Laura Ebert from the LVKM office. “But we know from conversations that those affected feel the need to be able to spend more time outdoors in nature. Digitization is helping us at this point.”
