Iowa State University study trip and International Accessibility Hackathon
29 May, 2024
UAS Technikum Wien organized a study trip and an international accessibility hackathon in cooperation with Iowa State University.
A study trip (May 19-26, 2024) and a hackathon (May 22-23, 2024) took place on the premises of UAS Technikum Wien.
Associate Professor Alenka Krek Poplin (ISU) and Professor Dr. Anuj Sharma accompanied 18 students from ISU with a background in city planning and civil engineering. During the week, the students, together with 9 students from UAS TW, got insight into the topics of city planning and smart cities while visiting the office of Urban Innovation Vienna and doing a walking tour in Seestadt Aspern. The students had the opportunity to reflect specifics in city planning and culture of Austria and Iowa.
International Accessibility Hackathon
On Wednesday and Thursday the students attended the International Accessibility Hackathon at Technikum Wien and were hosted by Martin Deinhofer and Alija Sabic (Project Inclusion International, City of Vienna, 33-02), Oliver Klein (Expert for wheelchair accessibility), Lukas Rohatsch from the competence center Software Engineering & Architecture and the International Office.
On Wednesday morning the students were able to experience environmental barriers in the buildings of Technikum Wien and tested the accessibility of toilets and ramps using a wheelchair.
Additionally, they tried out simulations of visual impairment by using the app tengo baja vision and VR headsets. In the afternoon, the students walked around and assessed restaurants and shops regarding wheelchair accessibility using the web application wheelmap.org.
On Thursday, a hackathon with 5 international teams took place. The aim of the hackathon was to create concepts of applications with regard to accessibility information. Open Data interfaces were used for the implementation. The team of „quiet streets“ presented their idea of an application helping to avoid loud places for people who are sensitive to high levels of stimulation (e.g. like autism) and was awarded with the first price.
Funding and Credits
The mobility of the ISU students was funded by ERASMUS+. The international accessibility hackathon was operated by the project Inclusion International funded by the City of Vienna (MA23, 33-02). Wheelchairs, the mobile ramp and the VR headsets were provided by the funded project BERTL (City of Vienna, MA23, 32-05).
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