Large programming competition at Deutsche Telekom sites in six countries: 160 employees demonstrated their innovative spirit for people with disabilities at “Hack4Humans”. In Hungary, a blind colleague assisted the hackathon teams who developed navigation aids for visually impaired people in buildings.
A hackathon is a programming competition under time pressure around an overarching theme. The word is made up of “hack” (meaning “technical trick”) and the suffix “-thon” from marathon. At “Hack4Humans 2024”, 21 Deutsche Telekom teams in six countries developed digital solutions for people with disabilities or restrictions. They had just under three days to do so. The participants chose one of six challenges in advance.
The building of Deutsche Telekom subsidiary Magyar Telekom in Budapest is located at Népliget metro station. It's my first time here. And I'm excited as I climb the stairs from the station and go inside. A nine-storey building. A high foyer, the size of an outdoor swimming pool. It welcomes me with glass, steel and surfaces in white and our corporate color magenta. The friendly receptionist shows me the way to the elevators. My destination: “4D room 136”. At the top of the fourth floor, I promptly get lost. I hurry through sections A to H. Where is D? “Lost in location”, I think. Despite the plans and signs on the walls. Then it works with inquiries. I make it in time for the start of “Hack4Humans 2024”. That's the name of our international hackathon.
How do I get to the toilet?
What means an extra round for me is a barrier for around 30 million people in Europe (source: German Blind Union): Those who are blind or have poor eyesight have little orientation in such buildings. Where are the elevators? Where are the buttons? How do I get to the toilet, how do I get to the meeting? ...
Can these barriers be overcome? I want to find out more at Hack4Humans. That's why I'm in Budapest. Csaba Almádi is waiting for me in “4D136”. He is blind. The software engineer from Deutsche Telekom IT (DTIT) is supervising the teams that are developing prototypes for “Simple indoor navigation for visually impaired people” in one of six challenges.
We introduce ourselves to each other. There is already a buzz of excitement all around. Coffee dishes clink. Around 40 colleagues gather in front of large screens showing live images of teams in Prague, Kosiše, València, Theassaloniki and from the central stage in Bonn. We all wave to each other. I get to know Éva Wábel and Regő Kozma here. Both of them are organizing the event in Budapest, coordinating closely with their counterparts in the other countries - and are there to help and advise everyone. Even me as a reporter.
After the starting signal from Bonn, everyone disappears from 4D136 into their team rooms: Challenge kick-off via MS Teams. I am allowed to accompany Csaba at the online meeting of his Challenge number 6. Seven teams, three of them here in Budapest, are dialed in - all mentored by Julian Kipka and Luis Pflamminger from Bonn and Csaba Almádi from Budapest.
Switch to Bonn: Csaba Almádi in conversation with Claudia Nemat, Board Member for Technology & Innovation and patron of the Hackathon. “I think it's great that a company is working so intensively on innovations for people with disabilities,” says Csaba Almádi. “So much warmth comes across at this hackathon.” © Deutsche Telekom
This is what Challenge 6 is all about: an app is to be developed for iOS or Android - or at least an initial feasible technical version. This should use so-called “Bluetooth LE beacons” to make it easier for visually impaired people to navigate our office buildings. Beacons are small disks - about the size of coat buttons. They can be placed anywhere in rooms and corridors and continuously transmit a weak Bluetooth signal. The basic idea is to feed the beacons with short keywords such as “4th floor” or “stairs”. The app can use the beacons' signal strength to determine how far away the user is from the nearest point. It then translates this information into instructions such as “There is a staircase on the right”. The app could communicate with the user via voice output or vibration, for example. This now needs to be developed further. The idea came from Csaba. And, as he emphasizes, more from his twin brother Péter, with whom he discussed it. He also works at DTIT in Budapest. And is also blind.
“I can only remember a few paths”
Csaba describes his perspective in the kick-off meeting, especially after the IT department moved into the large building two years ago. He describes how he grasps obstacles with his cane, but can never walk in a straight line. That he can't find signs or buttons. Above all: “I can only remember a few paths, I need guidance,” he says and appeals with a view to technology: “Think outside the box. I don't want to restrict your innovative spirit, I'm sure you'll come up with different ideas than me.” I realize that the challenge is not easy in the short time available. Csaba tells everyone that he is always available to answer questions about his everyday life. His open attitude to innovation impresses me.
“Getting as much out of life as possible”
When the teams “hack”, we have some time. In conversation with Csaba, I gain interesting and personal insights. For example, about the programs that read screen content to him. He has mastered the PC keyboard since childhood. When he programs, the screen reader reads the codes to him. And the same goes for the websites he visits. Shortcuts take him to the headlines, for example, as he shows me.
Éva is also sitting with us: “When Csaba shares his screen in a meeting, I can see how he navigates through applications faster than I can,” she says. In between, he shows me how he walks through the building with the cane in his left hand. He says that he doesn't want to touch anything else with his other hand in case he needs to react quickly. That he can't do anything with plans on the wall. He tells me that a vibrating alarm on his cell phone would help him a lot as a signal when he's out and about in buildings, for example at stairs.
Csaba came to Budapest from his home town near the Slovakian border to study for an MSC (Software Engineer). After a first job, he moved to Deutsche Telekom in 2022. It's easier for blind people in big cities, he says: “I can reach everything by metro and the services are better.” Csaba is in the board of a sports association of the blind in the Hungarian capital. The association even offers ski trips. “Skiing?” I am astounded as Csaba describes how he skis down the slopes at 50 kilometers per hour, always followed by a guide who navigates him by radio. I also learn Csaba's motto: “Get as much out of life as possible.”
The grand finale: And the winners are ...
Time jump, 48 hours later.
Little time and lots of ideas: 160 people gave their all. I noticed this during conversations in the coffee kitchen. Many only came for a quick bite to eat. They discussed eagerly in their rooms, prepared presentations and coded until after midnight. In the end, everyone was back in front of the screen in 4D136. One team after the other presents its solution. It's all about barrier-free identification, prompting and coding. About web interfaces for neurodiverse people, such as people with autism. Helping people to help themselves with online crime. And building navigation. What strikes me is how appreciative everyone is of each other's ideas.
In the end, two teams from the navigation challenge are on the podium. Team “Agora” from Budapest came out on top in the “Challenge” category, where Csaba, Julian and Luis formed the jury. And the „Wayfinder“ from Košice took victory in the “Locations” category. “Agora” presented a sophisticated solution with Bluetooth plus WLAN and a tracking technology called ‘fingerprinting’. The surroundings are captured and displayed using a screen reader. “Wayfinder” moved away from beacons and demonstrated innovative strength with object and route recognition using a cell phone camera and algorithms.
I am not a software expert. I can also only have a limited ability to imagine the world of people with disabilities; according to the EU Commission, 100 million people in Europe have some kind of disability. But one thing is certain for me: they are probably the real winners of the hackathon. 160 experts put their heads together for them for three days, taking ideas and the atmosphere with them into their everyday lives. Thank you, Csaba, for the many insights. Thank you, Éva and Regő, for your hospitality. Thank you, dear Hack4Humans team.
