Boundless will make festivals more inclusive
How can festivals become more accessible -- not just for some, but for all? Three students from DTU are working intensively to answer this question through the app Boundless, which was tested at Folkemødet this year.
The Boundless app allows festival goers to customize the festival site map and information according to their own needs. The user creates a profile and indicates, for example, whether they need to find seating, disabled toilets or areas with less sensory load. Based on these choices, the app filters the information so that the user only sees what is relevant to them.
The solution is based on principles of universal design and has been developed in close collaboration with young people with acquired brain injury, who have contributed input to functions, navigation, visual style and concrete needs in the festival situation. The goal is to create a solution where technology does not become an additional barrier, but a tool that provides security, overview and opportunity for participation.
You can watch the interview with the team behind Boundless here.
At Folkemødet, new features are also being tested — including heatmaps based on live tracking of crowds, so that users can get an overview of where there are many people and find alternative routes or areas with fewer people. The team behind the app is continuously working on feedback and sees the app as the first step towards more inclusive festival environments.
“Universal design is difficult because you have to include many people at once — but without creating a solution that becomes too overwhelming in itself.”
The project is led by Emilie Kathrine Theill Gorski Nielsen, Julie Amanda Jonassen and Marcus Arnfast Lauridsen. Boundless has already met with a lot of interest from organizers, organizations and festival goers alike.
Since 2019, the Bevica Foundation and DTU have been working together in a strategic partnership under the heading Technology Leaving No One Behind. Boundless stems from this partnership and is an example of how students at DTU develop concrete solutions. With the award of the Bevica Seed Grant, the team now gets the support to further develop the solution and test the app in new contexts so that even more people can benefit from it.
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