Dreamwaves (EN)

Dreamwaves developed an intuitive navigation app to guide people anywhere simply by following sounds.

What product or which service does the startup provide?
Dreamwaves developed an intuitive navigation app to guide people anywhere simply by following sounds. We use augmented reality to place virtual waypoints in the real world and 3D audio to hear the waypoints in a realistic way. To go somewhere you can just follow a sound as if a friend was calling from across the street. This is a fundamental shift in the paradigm of navigation. There is no need to look at a map and understand where to walk to on the street. The users can go anywhere without looking at the screen, without any special orientation skills.

Who are the products or services intended for?
The product is intended at anyone who wants to have a better wayfinding experience. From expats that just moved abroad and still feel insecure about finding their way in a new city, to elderly people who want to be independent but also to feel secure that they will always be able to find their way without effort to bike riders who shouldn’t look at the screen to finally blind and visually impaired people for whom navigation is a huge challenge. The common ground is the wish to be independent without the need for effort to find the way.

Which problem does the startup solve exactly?
Orientation is a fundamental challenge. Finding our way to go somewhere new or, when some obstacle like a closed street due construction works, forces someone to take an unfamiliar route, has always been a challenge. Smartphones made going somewhere much easier. But for some people who are less tech affine or in specific situations where it is difficult, dangerous or impossible to use the screen, using the smartphone is a big challenge. This challenge in orientation creates insecurity and leads many times to lack of independence.