Augmented-Reality App Helps Visually Impaired People Navigate Indoors in Indonesia

For visually impaired individuals, navigating buildings independently is often impossible without assistance. PetaNetra, a startup founded by Yafonia Hutabarat and two peers -all young software engineers- aims to change this with an indoor navigation app designed to help visually impaired people safely gain independence.

While studying computer engineering at the University of Indonesia, Yafonia joined the Apple Developer Academy, where she chose to focus on disability for a final project. This decision stemmed from a career orientation day in high school, where her interest in computer science was sparked by its emphasis on mathematics. Computer science, she discovered, was all about mathematics and logic and applied to a vast spectrum of fields. Yafonia loved mathematics and broad horizons. She had found her path.

Yafonia, now a 24-year-old software engineer, has two jobs. She works for a start-up in Jakarta as an IOS software engineer and balances her role with her responsibilities as COO of PetaNetra.

PetaNetra Ideation

Once they chose to work on disability, the group had to find an impactful project. After some research, they decided to focus on visual impairment and find a critical unresolved issue for the visually impaired that they could help through technology.

They realized that visually impaired people cannot locate themselves when they circulate in a building as GPS-based technology does not work indoors. Yafonia explained, “Some buildings have guiding blocs on the floor, but that does not give them context about where they are in the building.”

Without companions, people risk accidents, unaware of dangerous obstacles. “We want to help them navigate independently and that the app becomes a substitution for human companions.”

Up Close and Personal

The parents of one of the students, Graciela Gabrielle Angeline, are visually impaired. This increased the group’s motivation. “We became more empathetic about the issue because of our close relationship with the community; we had a personal link with someone on the team who had direct experience,” said Yafonia. The group also interviewed five visually impaired persons to deepen their knowledge of the issue and find out the best solution to their needs.

First Indonesian Indoor Navigation App for the visually impaired

Launched in 2021 by Yafonia, Graciela, and Jessi Febria, PetaNetra – meaning ‘’map eyes’’ in Indonesian – incorporates a custom tool for creating AR-based paths.

The team built its developer tool called PetaNetra Map Editor to create, edit, and review augmented reality-based paths, which will be used in the PetaNetra app. Buildings are mapped out with markers to indicate features of interest, such as ticketing counters or lockers, and warning indicators for obstacles.

The PetaNetra app delivers that information orally and in real-time to the users giving them information about the context and their position. The app has been deployed in several Jakarta buildings such as the Taman Ismail Marzuki public library, the MitraNetra Foundation community building, and the Sahabat Injili Church where many visually impaired people congregate regularly. The free app has been downloaded over 3,500 times and can be used and is available on Android and iPhones.

International Trade Center’s She Trades Innovator Award

In February, Yafonia won the International Trade Center’s She Trades Innovator Award, organized in Abu Dhabi. “It meant so much to me!” she exclaimed. “It means people actually believe in our product. They care about the problem and want to help us reach the impact they want to see in the world.”

Serendipitously, on the same day, Graciela won a competition on her campus, the National Cheng Kung University, as the first runner for the Hult Prize. “Those awards energize us, and the grant from ITC She Trades gives us a clearer picture of our future development,” Yafonia remarked.

Protecting PetaNetra’s App with Intellectual Property

Participating in WIPO’s mentoring program for Indonesian women innovators and entrepreneurs, Yafonia received one-on-one mentoring on branding, marketing, and IP commercialization. Yafonia and Graciela received advice on copyright protection for their apps, non-disclosure agreements for research collaboration in other countries, and several support sessions to help PetaNetra’s pitch for the ITC award.

“We learned so much!” said Yafonia, adding that the program helped her consider how to protect their innovation, particularly their software applications. “We did not know how to protect our products,” she said. The branding support they received encouraged them to change PetaNetra’s tagline and redesign their logo. 

Once the logo has been redesigned, Yafonia, Grace, and Jessi want to register the name PetaNetra with their new logo.

Scaling-up and Improving the Technology

Funded solely through grants, including one from ITC, PetaNetra is preparing to scale its operations by investing in research and development to upgrade the app. Before turning to investors for fundraising, the primary focus of the app was to improve the technology, raise its accuracy and scope so people can use it daily in many different buildings and bus shelters.

As the company scales up, Yafonia explains, “We would like volunteers from the public to use the PetaNetra Map Editor to contribute to deliver the impact to the visually impaired community.”

The co-founders have already reflected on the future monetization of their app. They plan collaborate with commercial spaces, creating inclusive shopping experiences in supermarkets and shopping centers, with the app giving information on brands, promotions, and descriptions. The team also wants to extend the app to museums. “The ultimate goal is to make visually impaired people experience the world as we do,” Yafonia said.