How best to help blind or partially sighted people in public space? Audio messages can be used in order to make their journey easier. In Rennes, France, the town council decided to try something new. In one of the underground's stations, fragrance's diffuser have been installed. Each (light) smell -spicy, minty, fresh- is associated with a particular direction.
"This apparatus is to complement audio and visual messages already set up to improve disabled persons' accessibility to the underground, said Frédéric Clec’h, in charge with information to travelers for the society that runs the underground, to the French newspaper 20 minutes. Audio messages guide the visually impaired already when they announce stops' names for example. But we wanted to do more by creating an "olfactory signage", explained the communication manager, Armelle Billard. This is meant to be light, like little drops which modify the atmosphere."
When the experience will come to an end, in six months from now, an association called Handicap 35 will say whether or not this new device is deemed successful. If the answer is a yes, then it will be extended to more underground stations.
