Category: Geeks r Us
I wasn't sure which board category I should put this under, but figured this one would suffice.
I think this sounds great, and hope that it is something that will truly benefit so many people.
A cutting edge navigation tool that promises to make travel much easier and offer a lot more independence for blind and deaf-blind travelers was launched at the Assistive Technology Industry Association (ATIA) conference October 29 through 31 in Chicago, Ill. The system is called ClickAndGo Wayfinding Maps and it offers detailed narrative route descriptions that help vision impaired people successfully find their way to unfamiliar destinations. The maps are free to users and can be accessed by telephone.
"This is modeled after the popular directions feature of Yahoo, Google, and MapQuest maps," said inventor and mobility specialist Joe Cioffi, who has 28 years experience teaching blind and deaf-blind clients white cane techniques.
"With Internet maps, sighted users select a starting point and destination from a drop-down menu and then click "go" for driving directions. "We adapted ClickAndGo Wayfinding Maps by adding the options of voice output or Braille that literally walks blind and deaf-blind people through the route to the destination with customized mobility-friendly walking directions," Cioffi said.
Rather than depend on strangers for directions, blind ATIA Conference attendees picked up a telephone or will use a computer to access a website, give their point of origin and destination, and hear specific directions to help them find their way independently to the Renaissance Schaumburg Hotel and Convention Center's registration desk, interior restaurants, ballrooms and function rooms, restrooms, guide dog relief areas, and other destinations.
A caller may hear, for example:
"After entering through the main doors, the flooring changes from carpet to tile. There are two elevators along the right side wall, 25 feet away. The elevator call button is located between the 2 elevators. Enter and press floor 2. Exit on floor 2 and walk straight. In 10 feet you will reach entry doors separating the elevator foyer from the main hallway. After these doors, walk straight 5 feet and turn right. You are now facing a 20 foot wide hallway, and straight ahead in 70 feet you will reach the double doors of the hotel ballroom."
The directions can be downloaded on a notetaker for later access. ClickAndGo Wayfinding Maps are mainly intended to help vision impaired travelers more easily orient themselves and move through airports, schools and universities, hotel and convention centers, public parks, amusement parks, tourist destinations, and other public places. But Cioffi also offers customized narrative walking directions for outdoor landmark-to-landmark route travel. All directions and point of interest information can be downloaded through ClickAndGoMaps' fully accessible website as both web pages and MP3 downloads, or obtained by using the company's voice activated technology with a standard telephone.
The system has been praised by users such as Ken Rodgers, who is blind and a Master's candidate at Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota, and the Past Minnesota Chapter President of the American Council of the Blind. Rodgers said the system offers a level of detail that is unparalleled by any other service or technology today.
"The ClickAndGo narrative mapping technology is absolutely phenomenal!" said Rodgers who tested the product at the University.
"It's easy to use and will revolutionize the way I find unfamiliar destinations without the fear of getting lost. Talk about maintaining my independence!"
Cioffi is the owner of InTouch Graphic which also produces tactile/low vision maps for people who are blind and vision impaired.
ClickAndGo Wayfinding Maps will be offered free to users. Cioffi is hoping to market the product to participating institutions such as airports and hotels that wish to accommodate their customers as well as comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990. The ADA offers some tax incentives and under certain conditions, reimburses businesses up to $15,000 for adaptations that encourage accessibility of public accommodations.
For more information, contact Cioffi at:
612-220-6657.
This sounds like it would be very helpful. I would like to be able to use a GPS system and not have to pay hundreds of dollars. I am really interested in trying this.
This would be really cool. I remain skeptical for now, however, only because I don't see who has the resources to create such detailed maps for a whole campus area, let alone city or state.
It's a great template but I am not sure how to fill it in. Ideally you'd have a device with public transportation links and updates, so it could give you a direction to the bus stop, which bus to take, where to get off the bus and how to get to your destination.
However it is definitely really neat to have a defined framework for blind navigation and everything above that will be a bonus.
I certainly hope this will come through big time, but I can't help but be a bit uncertain as to how useful it'll be in the near future.
yeah, this sounds awsome!. may have to give it a try.
Agreed. this sounds really neat. But it doesn't appear to be a live gps. That is, if I make a wrong turn or need to go a different way, it won't be able to help me, since the directions were already downloaded. Personally, without said landmarks like carpet changing to tial etc, I'm not really shure how I'd be able to gauge distances like five feet etc. Still, the idea is wonderful.
is there a web site to look at for this GPS solution?
I found a web site: http://www.clickandgomaps.com/
This looks like a work in progress as only sample routes are available. I am anxious for this to be further developed. I hope it can ind=clude at least major cities. Looks like an excellent tool.
The website wasn't included in the article, so thanks for finding it. I had found it yesterday, but hadn't logged on to post it.
From what I can tell, this is in the beginning stages, but I'm curious to see how far it's going to go.
This isn't something to replace good/excellent mobility skills, by any means. Everyone should know that we all must possess mobility skills if we want to get anywhere on our own.
If this gets off the ground and really gets going, I think it could be a great tool in helping a lot of people with certain tasks.
I don't get whats so good about this. Sure, your going to get a fair bit of detail in the maps, but you could probably count how many maps they have on your hands.
Nice idea, but probaby won't ever catch on as much as hoped.