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    Case study · Segovia · Castilla y León (Spain)

    Finding the pharmacy without asking for help.

    Segovia's Official Pharmacists' Association (COF), the City Council and ONCE in Castilla y León give every pharmacy in the province a NaviLens sign to place outside. The app detects it from a distance and guides blind and low-vision users right to the door.

    Person scanning with their phone a NaviLens sign from Segovia's Pharmacists' Association placed on the outside of a pharmacy

    Apr 2024

    Official launch · Segovia City Council · COF · ONCE

    1st

    Province in Castilla y León with NaviLens pharmacies

    Outdoor

    Sign placed in a visible spot at every participating pharmacy

    42

    Languages with voice readout

    The client

    Segovia Pharmacists' Association · City Council · ONCE Castilla y León

    Segovia's Official Pharmacists' Association represents pharmacies across the city and the wider province. Together with Segovia City Council and ONCE in Castilla y León, in April 2024 it launched a pioneering social project to turn every pharmacy into a point easily located by people with severe visual impairment.

    The official launch brought together at City Hall the Association's president, Marta Ruano; Mayor José Mazarías; ONCE's delegate in Castilla y León, Ismael Pérez; and ONCE's director in Segovia, Claudio Congosto. Segovia thus became the first province in Castilla y León with a full NaviLens rollout in pharmacies.

    Pharmacy facade in central Segovia with a lit green cross and a COF NaviLens sign placed at eye level

    § The solution

    A single code per pharmacy, read from afar and on the move.

    Each participating pharmacy receives a NaviLens sign — bearing the COF Segovia, ONCE and City Council logos — to be placed in a visible outdoor location: wall, window or entrance door. The code is detected several metres away, without focusing and even while the user is walking.

    Once detected, the app plays an approach sound and reads out the pharmacy's name, distance and direction. It works in 42 languages and lets the person walk to the door without asking anyone for help.

    § Journey

    From the printer to the podium, and from the podium to every Segovia pharmacy.

    • Stack of freshly printed NaviLens signs with the Segovia COF, ONCE and City Council logos, ready to be distributed

      Printing · March 2024

      Institutional signs ready

      Each sign is printed with a unique identifier FARMASEG-XXXXXX per pharmacy, the COF Segovia, ONCE and City Council logos, and QR codes to download the NaviLens and NaviLens GO apps.

    • Close-up of a Segovia COF NaviLens sign showing the colour code and the app download QR codes

      Design · Official sign

      A shared identity across pharmacies

      A single, coordinated design turns the sign into a recognisable symbol: if a blind person learns to identify it at one Segovia pharmacy, they will recognise it at any other in the province.

    • Marta Ruano holds a NaviLens sign on the City Hall podium alongside the Mayor and ONCE representatives

      Launch · 24 Apr 2024

      “Segovia, a pioneer in Castilla y León”

      The project is unveiled at Segovia City Hall with the COF president, Mayor José Mazarías, ONCE's regional delegate Ismael Pérez and its Segovia director Claudio Congosto.

    • Official group photo at Segovia City Hall with COF, ONCE and the municipal corporation

      Alliance · COF + ONCE + City Council

      Three signatures to take it to the street

      A professional association, an organisation of blind people and a local authority: the mix that ensures the sign is printed, distributed, installed and — above all — actually used.

    • Street demonstration on Calle Juan Bravo, Segovia: a person with a white cane tries the NaviLens app in front of a pharmacy

      Street demo · Central Segovia

      White cane + phone = pharmacy found

      An ONCE user walks with a white cane while the NaviLens app announces the pharmacies they pass. Distance and direction update step by step, with no focusing needed.

    • Marta Ruano, COF Segovia president, is interviewed by a CyL TV camera on a pedestrian street

      Coverage · CyLTV · El Norte de Castilla

      The project hits the media

      The launch is picked up by CyLTV, El Norte de Castilla, La Razón, El Adelantado and IM Farmacias on the very day of the unveiling: a megaphone so blind people across the province know it is available.

    • Facade of Farmacia Rujas in Segovia with the COF NaviLens sign placed on the glass door

      Farmacia Rujas · Segovia province

      Rural areas, accessible too

      The rollout also reaches pharmacies in the province: the sign is placed on the glass door, next to opening hours, so any blind person arriving in the village can locate it.

    • Hand scanning with a phone a NaviLens sign next to a Segovia pharmacy with a golden sign

      Real use · Arrival at the door

      “You're 1 metre from the pharmacy”

      In the final stretch, the app confirms by audio that the user is right in front of the pharmacy and also offers health tips and information about that specific establishment.

    § What they said

    • “Segovia City Council and ONCE have unveiled the NaviLens social project, a system of smart digital codes that pinpoints the location of pharmacies and makes them accessible to people with visual impairment, helping them move around without third-party assistance.”
    • “Segovia is the first province in Castilla y León to roll out this project, with the support of Segovia City Council and ONCE.”
    • “The NaviLens app detects from a distance and guides users with severe visual impairment to the nearest pharmacy.”

    § Press coverage and references

    § 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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