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    Case study · Oita University Hospital, Japan

    Ophthalmology made accessible one code per door.

    The 眼科 (Ophthalmology) department at Oita University Hospital uses the NaviLens Public Kit — laminated printable codes — so patients with low vision can find the check-in, their consulting room and the toilets in Japanese or in English.

    Reception area of the Ophthalmology (眼科 / Ophthalmology) department at Oita University Hospital: light-wood counter with a white check-in totem in front; on the totem face, below a yellow Japanese sign, a colour-tile NaviLens code printed on laminated paper with the text «Empowering visually impaired»

    眼科

    Ophthalmology department of Oita University Hospital (Kyushu, Japan)

    10+

    Consulting rooms (診察室) signposted with NaviLens codes on doors and lobby

    Public kit

    NaviLens standard kit: laminated printable codes rolled out without works

    JP / EN

    Information read by the app in Japanese and English depending on phone language

    The client

    Oita University
    Faculty of Medicine

    Oita University Hospital (大分大学医学部附属病院) is the reference teaching hospital of the University of Oita, on the island of Kyushu, Japan. It cares for patients from across the prefecture and anchors clinical teaching for the Faculty of Medicine.

    Its Department of Ophthalmology (眼科) is one of the most active in the country in retinal disease, neuro-ophthalmology and low vision — with a medical team led by Dr. Atsunobu Takeda. As a result its clinics see people with advanced visual impairment every day who need wayfinding inside the centre itself.

    § The challenge

    Helping the low-vision patient find their room among ten identical doors.

    1. 01

      Bilingual signage, but tiny

      The ophthalmology corridor doors carry hanging «診察室 / Consulting Room» panels with a large number, but at 1-2 metres and with low vision, reading them in time —and knowing which doctor is on duty— is virtually impossible.

    2. 02

      Long corridor, rooms in a row

      Rooms 3, 4, 5, 6, 7… and 10 sit along the same corridor with identical green curtains, NEC totems above each door and doctors' names in kanji (佐藤・中武・大塚) written on A4 sheets.

    3. 03

      Small toilets with no clear pictogram

      The toilets in the department share cream-coloured walls and lack a large outside pictogram — patients with low vision have to ask for directions to find them.

    Ophthalmology corridor at Oita University Hospital: sliding doors with green curtains and, above them, the «診察室 / Consulting Room 4, 5, 6, 7» signs in white with a large black number; on each white door frame there is a colour-tile NaviLens code printed on a laminated sheet, and on each door the doctor's name (佐藤・中武・大塚) written in kanji

    § Solution

    One NaviLens code per door, no building works.

    The department uses the NaviLens Public Kit: codes designed to be printed on A5 sheets and laminated. The hospital team sticks them with tape next to the official sign of each 診察室 and on the check-in totem.

    When the patient points their phone, the app says by voice «Consulting Room 4 — Dr. Sato» in the user's language. With no technical install, no works and no IT coordination: accessibility is rolled out in a couple of mornings.

    § Through the rooms

    Each 診察室 speaks for itself.

    Door of Consulting Room 10 in the Ophthalmology department: mint-green curtain across the opening, blue NEC monitor above showing the number 10 in kanji and, on the wall to the right, the white «診察室 10» sign and a laminated NaviLens code «Empowering visually impaired»; the doctor's chair and desk are visible at the back
    Door of Consulting Room 3 with the «診察室 / Consulting Room 3» panel, the doctor's sign «大塚 (真)» on a white sheet and, to its right, a NaviLens Public Kit code stuck on the cream wall with clear tape
    View into Consulting Room 3 through the open door: side green curtain, examination stool with a cobalt-blue seat, monitor at the back and light-green PVC floor typical of Japanese hospital environments
    Toilet in the Ophthalmology department: cream wall with a NaviLens code the size of a sheet stuck at eye level; below, a white TOTO sink with dispenser and, on the shelf, a 500 mL bottle of saline solution from the Otsuka laboratory
    Detail of the department toilet: smaller laminated NaviLens code stuck on the cream wall, just above a bin with a translucent blue bag — size and height calibrated so a low-vision user can capture it on entering

    § Timeline

    From Kobe Eye Center to the university hospitals.

    1. 2020

      NaviLens arrives in Japan

      Kobe Eye Center becomes the first NaviLens deployment in Japan. The ecosystem of medical and transport institutions that will adopt the system begins to take root.

    2. 2022-2024

      Japanese hospitals · public and private

      Saiseikai Central Hospital (Tokyo) becomes the world's first general hospital with NaviLens. Coverage starts to spread to regional university hospitals.

    3. 2024

      Oita University · Ophthalmology department

      The 眼科 (Ophthalmology) department of Oita University Hospital places a NaviLens Public Kit code on the check-in totem and on each of the consulting room doors along the corridor.

    4. 2024-2025

      Extension to auxiliary rooms and toilets

      The rollout extends to the department's own toilets: small codes on the wall at the patient's eye height, next to the bin and the sink, to make inside wayfinding easier.

    § What they said

    What's being said about NaviLens in Japan.

    • “視覚障がい者を支援するため、スペインで開発されたスマホアプリ「ナビレンス」。わが国では2020年に神戸アイセンター(神戸市)で初導入された。”
    • “ナビレンスのタグはそれがどこに設置されているか正確に知る必要はありません。スマートフォンのカメラを向けるだけで音声で情報が伝わります。”
    • “私たちは、眼の疾患に対する最新の診断と患者さん本位の最善の治療を行っています。”

    § Results

    An ophthalmology department made accessible with a printable kit.

    Door by door

    Every 診察室 (consulting room) speaks for itself — number and doctor read by the app

    No building works

    Printable Public Kit: the hospital management needs no external installers

    JP + EN

    The phone's own language decides how the information is read — no configuration needed

    § And your centre?

    Every classroom and clinic can be guided by voice.

    Tell us about your centre, your journeys and your users. We’ll show you how NaviLens would make wayfinding easier.

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