[OPLIN 4cast] OPLIN 4cast #413: Wayfinding cues for the blind

Wed Nov 26 10:29:45 EST 2014

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OPLIN 4Cast

OPLIN 4cast #413: Wayfinding cues for the blind
November 26th, 2014

blind symbolThis may not have much to do with library technology - not 
yet, anyway - but it's a cool story nonetheless. Libraries have always 
been involved with efforts to open the world of books to those who have 
vision impairment, of course, but it seems like new technologies that 
could be useful are often around for years before someone adapts them 
for the blind. Wearable technology, like Google Glass, easily could have 
become another example of new technologies ignoring the visually 
impaired; but now Microsoft is testing some wearable technology that has 
the potential to significantly enrich the lives of the blind.

  * Microsoft's bone-conducting headset guides the blind with audio cues
    <http://www.engadget.com/2014/11/06/microsoft-headset-for-the-visually-impaired/>
    (Endgadget | Mariella Moon) "Microsoft, for one, is currently
    testing a new headset (developed with help from UK charity Guide
    Dogs <http://www.guidedogs.org.uk/>) that uses 3D soundscape
    technology to guide its users with audio cues along the way. That
    bone-conducting headset can't work alone, though: it needs to be
    connected to a smartphone, as well as to receive information from
    Bluetooth and WiFi beacons
    <http://www.engadget.com/2014/08/03/sfo-beacons-for-blind-passengers/>
    placed in intervals throughout the roads users take."
  * Independence Day: A new pilot program sets people with sight loss
    free to experience cities like never before
    <http://news.microsoft.com/stories/independence-day/>
    (Microsoft/Stories | Jennifer Warnick) "Microsoft designers worked
    incredibly closely with Guide Dogs - its employees, mobility experts
    and users like Bottom and Brewell - to genuinely understand the
    challenges of traveling to and fro with vision loss. The engineers
    and designers from Microsoft and mobility experts and users from
    Guide Dogs spent countless hours in the field together. In rain and
    wind, they patiently tried various half-baked ideas, experimented
    with different approaches to hardware and software, and gave
    essential feedback to help shape the technology every step of the way."
  * Blind Microsoft director offers bold new vision w/ help from father
    of multi-touch <http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=36846>
    (Daily Tech | Jason Mick) "After all, dogs can't tell you where the
    closest spot to grab a bite to eat is. A smartphone might tell you
    that. But even they fall short. A local public transit authority
    might offer vision impaired auditory clues, for example, and/or
    release a well-integrated smartphone app that tells riders exactly
    what bus is arriving when. But many city services lack these kind of
    accessibility efforts. And even those that have them, may be unable
    to save a vision impaired person from getting on the wrong bus, if
    the scheduled bus on the route is running late, and a different
    route is running early."
  * Microsoft had to blindfold me so I could hear the future
    <http://www.theverge.com/2014/11/6/7164623/microsoft-3d-sound-headset-guide-dogs>
    (The Verge | Tom Warren) "The real magic of this system is the 3D
    audio technology that gives you a real sense of direction. One
    feature on the headset allows you to push a button and hear a list
    of nearby places of interest. They're processed through the headset
    dependant on the direction you're facing so that when a store is
    read aloud you'll be able to hear the direction of where it's
    located. That might be in the rear left or out in front, but the
    audio gives you a clear sense of where that store is along a route
    through just sound alone."

*/Articles from Ohio Web Library <http://ohioweblibrary.org>:/*

  * Exploring the functional specifications of a localized wayfinding
    verbal aid for blind pedestrians: Simple and structured urban areas.
    <http://web.b.ebscohost.com.proxy.oplin.org/ehost/detail/detail?sid=a1abb00c-7faa-43ee-8b1e-1fb1c6823d8d%40sessionmgr113&vid=0&hid=123&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=cph&AN=18977527>
    (/Human-Computer Interaction/, Sept. 2005, p267-314 | Florence
    Gaunet and Xavier Briffault)
  * An indoor routing algorithm for the blind: Development and
    comparison to a routing algorithm for the sighted.
    <http://web.b.ebscohost.com.proxy.oplin.org/ehost/detail/detail?sid=61466dd5-bca4-4074-8831-0706b6777abf%40sessionmgr198&vid=0&hid=123&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=aph&AN=44252854>
    (/International Journal of Geographical Information Science/, Oct.
    2009, p1315-1343 | Martin Swobodzinski and Martin Raubal)
  * Toward a computer vision-based wayfinding aid for blind persons to
    access unfamiliar indoor environments.
    <http://web.b.ebscohost.com.proxy.oplin.org/ehost/detail/detail?sid=4c3b4eb7-d725-4f0a-b5aa-177981021b12%40sessionmgr113&vid=0&hid=123&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=aph&AN=86051772>
    (/Machine Vision & Applications/, April 2013, p521-535 | YingLi
    Tian, Xiaodong Yang, Chucai Yi, and Aries Arditi)

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