LBStech (CEO Siwan Lee) participated in SLUSH 2022, an event for startups held in Helsinki, Finland from November 17 (Thursday) to 18 (Friday).

LBStech is a company that provides sidewalk data. The startup develops a barrier-free map using walkway data that includes obstacle and accessibility information. Based on its experience in completing various smart city projects in Korea, the company is currently conducting demonstrations overseas, such as in Vietnam and Singapore.

The WAY Platform, which the company showcased at this year’s SLUSH, collects information that is helpful for walking, including the location of obstacles, and the slope of walkways, as well as information on building entrances. The walkway data are refined through a total of six procedures: data collection, integration, separation, validation, verification, and registration. Finally, the refined walkway data are used for walking route navigation for the visually or physically impaired along with outdoor driving of delivery robots.

According to LBStech, “Our walkway data is special in that it can be used for the disabled and delivery robots alike. Existing pedestrian navigation services such as Google Map only calculate and provide the distance of the route and travel time, rather than the condition of the walkway or the walking ability of the user. On the other hand, the WAY Platform provides information that is helpful to those who are less capable of walking, including the visually or physically impaired and delivery robots.”

“The information can either help the user reach the destination, or assess the walkability of the route in the first place. This can improve the mobility and use of walkways by the those who are less capable of walking. Ultimately, we hope our platform can help create a barrier-free smart city for the disabled to live without any inconvenience,” the company said.

SLUSH is a renowned Northern European global startup exhibition, first held in 2008, where startups from all around the world meet major investors in Europe and Finland. The companies participating in SLUSH 2022 took part in promoting their companies by running the K-STARTUP Pavilion, the side event “K-STARTUP Demo Day,” and networking with professional investors using a matchmaking tool.

[Helsinki, Finland=AVING & Lecafedugeek Special Report Team – Joseph Choe, Dongkwan Kim, Mokkyung Lee, Leo Thevenet]