General Incorporated Association WheeLog

Why are you applying for The Elevate Prize?

WheeLog is an organization working on building the biggest platform on wheelchair accessibility in the world through a map application and its website. We aim to create a society where wheelchair users can fairly enjoy activities that involve going out.

The Elevate Prize promises opportunities for financial and other necessary assistance to keep developing the project. We hope to receive subsidies in order to improve the application. Moreover, we hope to seek assistance and advice from experts to strengthen our organization and increase the number of users worldwide.

To provide better support to wheelchair users, we keep updating the application. We also work on adding new services on our platform, such as the wheelchair-accessible hotel reservation system. The project’s cost estimate is over $100,000, and subsidies will be a great help, as we offer non-profit services.

In addition, we aim to build a stronger business model. It is our goal to expand the market overseas by utilizing the application which is currently available in more than 10 languages. We welcome advice on how to efficiently promote the application globally.

  WheeLog is looking forward to accomplishing these goals hand in hand with the Elevate Prize.

Tell us about YOU:

I have been offering accessibility information to wheelchair users through YouTube, our application, and other media outlets. I was, myself, diagnosed with distal myopathy and became a wheelchair user at the age of 26. For the first year and a half, I could hardly go outside since a trip to an unknown place required a great deal of research, careful planning and courage. 

However, the experience of having been able to bring my son to the beach, which I had assumed I couldn't, made me realize that the information on accessibility might change the way of living for wheelchair users. Moreover, as I had been a member of a Patient Association, I knew many other people in wheelchairs who could not go out whenever and wherever they wanted to.  

These facts made me decide to start my YouTube channel named "Kurumaisu Walker (Wheelchair Walker)” in 2014 in order to share my experiences of going outside. It has gained over 240 videos and 13K subscribers.  

Then I developed WheeLog! the application in 2018 with the prize money from the Google Impact Challenge in order to build the biggest platform of information on accessibility in the world.   

Video Introduction

Pitch your organization.

WheeLog offers a wheelchair-accessibility map application which has gained over 30 thousand users. We also organize events to promote people’s understanding toward wheelchair accessibility. 

Our application is a user-generated map where users can share their experiences and create virtual guideposts to enable other users to prepare for their visit in advance. The data is based on Google Maps, and everyone around the world can post information on the map. Users can add accessibility information of facilities on the map and evaluate them by using the available questionnaire. Additionally, users can trace the route they took to reach those places by using the GPS function of the smartphone. As they are displayed, other users can easily guess which path is easy to follow. 

In addition, we help people without disabilities become more aware of the accessibility issues and barriers around them. We regularly organize city strolling events and other online and offline events. The city strolling events allow non-wheelchair users to experience strolling around the town in wheelchairs. We also deliver lectures for university and high school students. 

We have won many social entrepreneurial awards including World Summit Award, Dubai 2020 Expo Impact Grant, and MIT SOLVE Challenge for those initiatives.

Describe what makes your work innovative.

Firstly, WheeLog! is a user-generated platform. It is a system that involves not only wheelchair users but also people without disabilities, the amount and reliability of primary information is updated every day and it is a growing application.

Of course, we collect accessibility information, but we also frequently organize surveys for our users and ask for their opinions and suggestions on wheelchair accessibility. Then we submit our requests for solving those issues to the government. So far, we have requested for the gap between platforms and trains to be eliminated so wheelchair users could board trains unassisted, and our request was granted.

Second, WheeLog! uses Open Data. This makes it possible to collaborate with public sectors and companies, and has the potential to contribute to administrative urban development and tourism policies.

We are enriching accessibility information on WheeLog! by utilizing open data presented by local governments and companies. In fact, we imported the information on accessible restrooms and elevators from the open data provided by the Tokyo government. Also, we have partnered with Family Mart, one of the most popular convenience stores in Japan and they have shared information on the accessible restrooms of their 4500 stores all over Japan.

How and why is your organization having an impact on humanity?

WheeLog is contributing to create a society where wheelchair users can travel to places that they want to go to more freely and independently, without concerns. When a person becomes a wheelchair user, any prospect of going outside and participating in outdoor activities, ranging from eating a simple restaurant meal to traveling abroad, is riddled with fear and anxiety. Our application not only gives them all relevant information, but also motivates them by showing there are places they can go to. 

In addition, we submit our requests for solving those issues to the government in order to promote wheelchair accessibility in Japan. For example, we have hosted a public meeting with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. Our intent was to exchange opinions on the unsolved issue of tactile markers causing discomfort and physical harm to wheelchair users with organizations supporting people with visual and physical disabilities, major construction firms and scholars. 

We believe that creating an inclusive society wherein wheelchair users can travel more freely helps them attain more independence and interact more with society. It can also help create new services and demands which can solve the social issues that wheelchair users currently go through.

Select the key characteristics of the community your organization is impacting.

• Urban
• Persons with Disabilities

Which of the UN Sustainable Development Goals does your organization address?

• 3. Good Health and Well-being
• 11. Sustainable Cities and Communities

Which of the following categories best describes your work?

Equity & Inclusion

How many people does your organization directly serve at present? How many do you anticipate serving in one year?

Firstly, WheeLog supports people with disabilities, especially those in wheelchairs, by offering a wheelchair-accessibility map application which has been downloaded by 100 thousand people and gained over 30 thousand subscribed users (the map-viewing function is available without subscribing). We are predicting that the number of downloads will reach 130 thousand by the end of this year. We also organize online and offline events every month to promote people’s understanding toward wheelchair accessibility. We are predicting more than 500 people will participate in total this year.

In addition, we submit our requests to the government in order to solve issues that people with disabilities are facing, and some of them have been granted. For instance, our request contributed to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure Transport and Tourism in deciding to introduce the prepaid transportation card for passengers with disabilities so that they can receive a discount without buying a ticket every time. These initiatives are benefitting more than 9.37 million people which represents the entire population of people with disability in Japan.

Describe your impact goals and how you plan to achieve them.

Our goal is to create a society where wheelchair users can fairly enjoy activities that involve going out, which is associated with goals 3 and 11 on the SDG list. We believe our initiatives can promote the well-being of people of all ages, and contribute to the development of cities and communities for all people, regardless of their physical conditions.

In Japan, even though 1 in 60 people is a wheelchair user, we rarely get to see them outdoors. That is because many of the facilities and the roads in Japan are still inaccessible for wheelchair users, and a trip to an unknown place requires a great deal of research and careful planning. Thus, when a person becomes a wheelchair user, going outside and participating in outdoor activities is riddled with fear and anxiety, and that can limit his/her opportunities for education, employment, and even recreation.

We are contributing to solve this problem by ensuring the accessibility to the information that we provide through technology. Anyone can access our map on the website and the application for free. We hope to increase users all over the world so that more information will be available to them as it is user-generated. 

What barriers currently exist for you to accomplish your goals in the next year and how do you plan to overcome them? How would winning the Elevate Prize help you to overcome these barriers?

In order to accomplish our goals, it is necessary to increase the number of paid staff and improve our application and other services. The biggest barrier is the lack of stable income.

We earn $303,000 annually by soliciting donations from individuals and companies, entering award competitions both in Japan and abroad, and undertaking the tasks for accessibility checks from both public and private institutions.

However, these revenue sources might not be sustainable in the future. In order to make this business more sustainable, we decided to convert the WheeLog's system into API and to offer a continuous subscription service to the government and companies. We are also willing to provide consulting services to them as they are now obligated by law to provide reasonable accomodations in the workplace.

In addition, we strongly believe that The Elevate Prize promises opportunities for financial and other necessary assistance to keep developing the project. In addition, we hope to seek assistance and advice from experts to strengthen our business model to be more sustainable.

How would you leverage the larger platform, audience, and brand recognition as an Elevate Prize winner to further advance your impact?

We would like to leverage the larger platform, audience, and brand recognition as the chance to increase the number of our app users all around the globe. 

Although the majority of our current users are based in Japan, it is our goal to expand the market overseas by utilizing the application which is currently available in more than 10 languages. Especially, as our application is user-generated, if more people around the world share the information, it means we can contribute to creating a society where anyone can go anywhere without limitations.

In addition, we believe that this opportunity can be a trigger for potential collaboration and partnering with other organizations or companies in other countries for further development.

What is your approach to building a diverse, equitable, and inclusive leadership team?

Our initiatives are supported by five full-time/part-time staff members, and more than ten volunteer members of all ages, genders, physical conditions, and occupations.

 Some of them are wheelchair users, so we can reflect their voices in our initiatives. For instance, when we conduct accessibility checks, they help us make sure that the result is accurate and would really be useful to all wheelchair users that might go to that particular place in the future. Also, when we hold a city strolling event, we put at least one wheelchair user in each group in order to let non-wheelchair users interact with wheelchair users and listen to their insights.

Moreover, we are putting effort into creating a community for our app users and supporters. We actually have an online community involving more than a hundred fifty people, and we often conduct online and offline activities to exchange opinions on accessibility and our initiatives.

How are you and your team well-positioned to address the problem you are solving?

I am well-positioned to address the problem that WheeLog is addressing since I understand the difficulties that wheelchair users go through every day as I am, myself, a wheelchair user, too. I started up some projects to make the Japanese society more wheelchair-friendly and have actually managed to improve it with the help of supporters. 

I founded the Patients Association for Distal Myopathy in 2008. Through the activities of the association, I have been able to build my network with organizations and individuals involved in humanitarian activities, researchers and entrepreneurs working on solving social issues through technology, government, politicians, media and so forth. 

 I also started my YouTube channel called “Kurumaisu Walker” or "Wheelchair Walker" in 2014. Since then, I have uploaded more than 200 videos which offer information on accessibility for people with disabilities and they have achieved over 6.8 million views.

 In addition, I believe that the WheeLog team is well-positioned to deliver its service as our project has been achieving mainstream recognition owing to media support and our representatives' communication skills. We are also leveraging the skills and knowledge of our staff and volunteer members, including physical therapists and people of all ages, genders, and physical conditions.

Describe a past experience that demonstrates your leadership ability.

The greatest difficulties I overcame since I started my project as a leader are my disease progression and the change in policy due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Regarding my disease, I suffered from an MS-related seizure and had to be admitted to a hospital at the end of 2018. Despite the fact that my activities were limited, I continued to do the best I could do and tried to expand my business overseas. As a result, I won the World Summit in February 2019, and Solve MIT in December 2019.

Regarding the change in policy, in 2020 I decided to set up a steering committee consisting of more than 20 volunteer members in order to expand WheeLog’s initiatives. Even though our activities were limited due to the pandemic, we sought the way to do the best we could to organize events to promote people's understanding on wheelchair accessibility. Then we decided to hold a city strolling event online for the first time, and after much experimentation, we succeeded in holding one of the biggest and most successful events of all time.

I will keep getting over difficulties with my perseverance and the support of people who sympathize with my aim.

Have you been featured in any documentaries, television shows, or live speaking engagements? If so, please share links to any available content.

List of media appearances

・12/28/2017 ACCESSIBLEJAPAN
”WheeLog! An accessibility app for Japan… and the world!”
https://www.accessible-japan.com/wheelog-an-accessibility-app-for-japan-and-the-world/

・5/24/2019　IDB
”Application of Accessibility Maps. Cities from a different perspective”
https://blogs.iadb.org/ciudades-sostenibles/en/application-of-accessibility-maps-cities-from-a-different-perspective/

・8/25/2019　Globoplay（Brazil）
”Faltando um ano para Jogos Paralímpicos, app ajuda cadeirantes a circular por Tóquio”
https://globoplay.globo.com/v/7869699/

・11/17/2019　Expo Live I WheeLog
”Expo Live I WheeLog”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtfTSaa9uOo

・2/27/2020　NHK world
”Aiming for Accessibility: Barrier-Free App Developer - Yuriko Oda”
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/tv/rising/20200227/2042094/

・2/28/2020　Zenbird
”FamilyMart collaborates with WheeLog! app for accessible toilets”
https://zenbird.media/familymart-collaborates-with-wheelog-app-for-accessible-toilets/

・09/25/2020　MIT Solve
”MIT Solve: WheeLog!: A Solver Story”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8Xcu-KxG7o

・10/01/2020　MIT Solve
”Advocating for an Accessible, Inclusive Future for Wheelchair Users: Insights from Solver WheeLog!”
https://solve-mit-edu.ezproxy.canberra.edu.au/articles/an-accessible-inclusive-future-for-wheelchair-users-wheelog

・7/23/2020　REUTERS
”Forward together Japan’s Inclusive Society”
https://www.reuters.com/brandfeatures/forward-together-japans-inclusive-society

・6/15/2020　Euronews
”Japan's Paralympic Games aim to leave lasting legacy”
https://www.euronews.com/2020/06/15/japan-paralympic-games-aim-to-leave-lasting-legacy

・Dubai Expo Live
”Crowdsourced maps for wheelchair users”
https://www.expo2020dubai.com/en/understanding-expo/expo-initiatives/expo-live/global-innovators/wheelog

Our initiatives have been reported in the Japanese media as well, including television, newspapers, magazines and online articles.

If selected as an Elevate Prize winner, how will the funding help you achieve your goals?

We hope to receive grants for the following areas:
・$200,000 for salaries for 5 staff members and the recruiting cost
Currently, with the exception of the five paid staff members, we run our services with the help of over 10 volunteers, but, in fact, none of us has engineering skills. Therefore, in addition to hiring some people who may perform desk jobs and sales, we look to employ an engineer part time.

・$100,000 for app modification (web, mobile and API)
Currently, the web version of our app only has browsing functions, and we would like to add all the other features that our mobile application has, such as the ability to write and post information on accessibility, and so forth. In addition, we would like to incorporate technical functions such as advanced mixed reality (MR) and gamification into our mobile applications.

What organizations do you currently partner with, if any? How are you working with them?

・WheeLog has partnered with nanoconnect,Inc. ever since we launched our application. They have helped us develop and maintain our system.

・We will be working with ALL NIPPON AIRWAYS CO., LTD. from this summer in order to start the project of utilizing API.

・We have partnered with Aioi Nissay Dowa Insurance Co.,Ltd. in order to implement smart city development from April 2021.

・We have received annual sponsorship fees from several companies in Japan.

・Outside Japan, we have been chosen as the partner for Solve MIT sponsored by MIT and EXPO LIVE by Expo2020 Dubai. SOLVE MIT supports us to expand in the U.S. and EXPO LIVE to expand around the world. We have been supported by mentors and received subsidies from them.

・We are sponsored by a company which operates accessible taxis in Taiwan, and we are planning to hold an event there in the near future when the Coronavirus situation settles down.

In which of the following areas do you and your organization most need support?

• Financial (e.g. improving accounting practices, accessing funding)
• Marketing & Communications (e.g. public relations, branding, social media)