Introducing the Trekker Breeze: It’s a breeze to operate, but is it worth the price?

In late August 2008, it is anticipated that Humanware will release the Trekker Breeze, which is a GPS device designed for both extreme portability and ease of use. Unlike other GPS solutions for the Blind and visually impaired, the Trekker Breeze is contained in one small handheld unit, requires no use of a personal computer to get started. And, best of all, it is by far the easiest to use.

While other GPS solutions work well and are very nice to have, they do require a good bit of skill to operate. Oftentimes, their operation requires use of a personal computer for initial set-up. Additionally, one must learn a fare number of commands and keystrokes in order to use them effectively.

The simplicity of the Trekker Breeze is truly brilliant. It’s a bit smaller than the Victor Reader Stream, (5×2×1 inches), and it has only nine buttons and one volume wheel. The buttons are divided into three zones denoted tactilely on the unit. The information zone contains the where am I, repeat and information buttons. THE information button speaks battery charge level and quality of GPS reception. Directly below the information zone is the left arrow, confirm and right arrow. The bottom row contains the go, record and explore buttons.

When you turn on the Breeze, it will automatically give you your location if you are outside and receiving satellite signals. AS you walk or ride in a vehicle, the Breeze will automatically announce points of interest such as restaurants and stores as well as intersecting streets. IF you get disoriented, you can retrace your steps with the press of a button. You can record landmarks and routes. I’d say that the Trekker Breeze is ideal for the person who needs assistance traveling routes repeatedly or navigating in ones neighborhood. The perfect customer might be an elder who has recently lost his or her vision. The Breeze is also good for finding points of interest in an unfamiliar neighborhood.

Now for the down side. It is not possible to enter numeric addresses into the Breeze, and the user cannot program routes to unfamiliar destinations. Routes must be recorded in advance with the assistance of someone who is familiar with the route. Thus, it is not a fully functional GPS solution like the Trekker, Sendero or Street Talk. It seems to me that Humanware could have added the capability to enter addresses to the Breeze. I realize that this would have probably made the Breeze a bit larger, but the addition of this feature would make the Breeze so much more valuable. Perhaps Humanware will come up with the Breeze II in the near future.

Finally, the price is too high for what you get. Someone who is not blind and wants a GPS system can go off to the Internet or his or her favorite electronics store and choose from any number of options. Two of the more popular brand names are the Garmin and the TomTom. These devices range in price from $120.00 to $400.00 depending on functions and features. All of these devices allow the user to program a route to a destination by entering the destination’s address. Frankly, the Trekker Breeze is not introducing any new technologies. Yes, it is true that the market for GPS systems like the Garmin is much larger, but I don’t believe that a price of $895.00 for the Breeze can be justified. There are other GPS options for the blind that work in conjunction with advanced cell phones with installed screen readers. But if you don’t already own such a phone, you’ll pay at least $600.00 for these products.
While I don’t like it much, I can understand why we must pay high prices for devices such as refreshable Braille displays which are not used in the broader marketplace. Since the Trekker Breeze contains no such specialized technology, its price should be more reflective of the prices for similar GPS devices sold in that market.

For more information on the Trekker Breeze, go to the Trekker Breeze page on the Human Ware web site. IF you’d like to hear a discussion of the Trekker Breeze, listen to the April 16th, 2008 broadcast on ACB Radio.