GPS Systems for the blind: Great Navigation Aids, but Not for the Faint of Heart

I have been a successful and independent blind traveler for around 30 years. For most of this time period, being a successful blind traveler has required a good bit of advanced planning. My usual course of action when traveling to unfamiliar areas has worked one of two ways.

1. You plan to take taxicabs or find rides to and from your destinations.
2. If you’re going to do some independent walking, it’s a good idea to get directions in advance from multiple sources. These may include people who either live or work in the places you’ll be visiting and local police.

My favorite directions have often come from other blind travelers. But recent developments in Global Positioning Systems, (GPS) have allowed the blind traveler a great deal more spontaneity.

The GPS system consists of 24 orbiting satellites that was developed by the United States government originally for use by the military. IN recent years, navigational aids have been developed for the consumer market. It is surely a lot easier to program a route to a given address than it is to find your way around using one of those large map books. More recently, accessible GPS systems have been developed for the blind and visually impaired. These devices can be used both for walking and for directing drivers. One of them can even be used to direct blind sailors. Below, I’ll discuss four available choices: StreetTalk, Sendero, Trekkerand Mobile Geo.

All of these systems give the blind traveler the ability to travel specified routes and provide valuable information along the way. Routes can either be calculated by the software or determined in great detail by the user. The software will calculate any route given two addresses that appear on the same map, but this route might not be the most desirable route for reasons such as number of traffic lights or complexity of walking through certain intersections. For this reason, the software allows the user to either drive or walk a preferred route which can be saved for future use. The user can determine things like location by address, nearest intersection and nearby points of interest such as restaurants, stores and bus stations. The user can also designate additional favorites and points of interest. Many users like to designate locations such as home or work as favorites because after doing so, it is much easier to calculate a route to these locations in the future from anywhere else on a map.

Sendero

The Sendero GPS system is designed to be used with either the BrailleNote or the brailleSense personal data assistant. The Sendero package includes a GPS receiver, the software and a blue tooth card which allows the GPS receiver to communicate with the personal data assistant. The Sendero is considered to be the Cadillac of GPS systems for the blind due to both price and to its outstanding array of features and functions. The cost of the Sendero is around $1500.00 but it offers by far the greatest number of features and highest level of configurability.

The Sendero provides many options to assist the blind traveler in walking, directing drivers and even sailing! Routes can be planned and explored in advance. The user can explore maps even when not on line. The user proceeds block by block as street names and cross streets are announced. One can even determine the type of intersection such as four-way or three-way. The user can determine exactly which types of information are to be spoken automatically and there are shortcut commands to instantly obtain these types of information. Types of information include points of interest, (categories can be turned on and off individually), street address, next intersection, and next action step while viewing a route. The user can select three modes: pedestrian, driving and free mode. Free mode is particularly useful for places like college campuses and large parks. The user can create routes between points of interest in free mode including points of interest inserted by the user. That feature would have come in handy when I was an under-graduate at Boston College. The user can even create routes between points of latitude and longitude down to minutes and seconds. This means that a blind sailor can independently navigate in the open ocean when the weather is good. (This does not mean that safe navigation is possible in busy harbors.) The Sendero appears to be the easiest of the three to install. There are a lot of commands to learn, but if you’re already familiar with either the brailleNote or BrailleSense this should not be an issue. To learn more about the Sendero go to www.senderogroup.com

Trekker

The Trekker software runs on the Maestro, an off-the-shelf personal data assistant that has been outfitted with screen reader software and an attachable keyboard that allows the blind user to use the tap screen. The Trekker package includes the software, a GPS receiver, an external speaker and a special strap that facilitates the portability of the Trekker. IF the strap is used, the PDA, the GPS receiver and the speaker are arranged on the strap for easy carrying. The Trekker is by far the most portable of the first three GPS systems discussed.

The Trekker costs around $1,600.00 but this price includes the PdA. The Maestro software which makes the unit a fully functioning PDA can be had for an additional $300.00. The Trekker offers many of the same features found in the Sendero. You can travel either automatically calculated routes or user-specified routes, explore both routes and maps off-line and add points of interest and favorites. But the free mode is not as versatile as that found in the Sendero. I don’t believe that the Trekker would work well in the sailing scenario mentioned above.

While the Trekker is much more portable, it does have a couple of drawbacks. Installation of the software on the PDA is not at all intuitive. I would say that the Trekker is also the hardest of the three systems to learn. The attached keyboard is not at all like that found on either the BrailleNote or the PAC Mate. Below is a link that will play an audio clip from a friend of mine who used the Trekker on a recent trip. Here, he expresses his frustrations regarding the steep learning curve involved with use of the Trekker and the inability of the Trekker to automatically recalculate a route when the user goes off-route. I must also note here that after initial frustrations, my friend was able to use the Trekker more successfully later in his trip. This friend is an accomplished information technology professional. If he became frustrated with the Trekker, I can only imagine the frustration faced by persons less skilled in the use of computers. To here his report, go to humanware am I and click on the “listen to Rick’s report” link. To learn more about the Trekker, go to the Trekker web page

StreetTalk

The StreetTalk software runs on the PAC Mate personal data assistant. The StreetTalk package includes the software, GPS receiver, Blue tooth compact flash card and a compact flash storage card. The StreetTalk is the least expensive system costing around $600.00 but it is also the bulkiest to carry around due to the size of the PAC Mate. StreetTalk also lacks some of the features found in the Trekker and the Sendero. The user can travel both automatically calculated and user pre-determined routes and ad user favorites to the database. The user can explore routes off-line, but not maps. This means that if your planning a trip for tomorrow, you can get a good idea of the distance and where to turn, but you won’t be able to determine the number of blocks to walk on each leg of your route until you actually travel the route online. Also, intersecting streets are not automatically announced. AT any time, the user can ask the unit to speak the names of streets at the current intersection.

The biggest drawback with StreetTalk is the installation which in my view is for certified geeks only! I have both the PAC Mate and StreetTalk which were purchased by the good folks at the Massachusetts Commission for the blind, (MCB) I had these very nice people do the StreetTalk install and I’m glad I did. It is a 90-step process that required many frustrating hours on the part of MCB technicians. Once installed, however, the system worked well. I found it relatively easy to use. Familiarity with the PAC Mate made the process of learning StreetTalk even easier. I have been using StreetTalk for around three years both for walking and directing drivers. I considered myself an accomplished navigator before I obtained StreetTalk and have found this system to be a wonderful enhancement. My wife used to be very reluctant to drive into cities like Boston and Cambridge, but with the StreetTalk that inhibition has fallen away. IT is a tremendous convenience to find places I didn’t know about before such as stores and restaurants along a route.

There’s one more point to consider here. When Freedom Scientific introduced the OMNI it did not introduce a compatible version of StreetTalk. FS hopes to release a new version of StreetTalk that will work with the OMNI in the near future, but it has taken far longer than anticipated. A big part of the problem here is that StreetTalk uses the destinator which is an off-the -shelf general market GPS system. FS has no control over the nature of this software. Personally, I refuse to update to the PAC Mate OMNI until FS releases a new version of StreetTalk. To learn more about StreetTalk, go to streettalk gps

Mobile Geo

Mobile Geo is a newer product which offers what might just be the best of all worlds in GPS systems for the blind. Mobile Geo runs on Smart phones equipped with the Mobile Speak screen reader and Pocket PC devices including cell phones and personal data assistants. . The Mobile Geo software costs $845.00; the Mobile Geo can be purchased along with Mobile Speak for $1,125.00. The user must also purchase a Smart phone or pocket PC device. After typical rebates, the user might pay something like $125.00 for a Smart Phone. While the Mobile Geo will work with GPS receivers that are built into some Smart Phones, the manufacturer recommends the use of a separate blue tooth GPS receiver for better location accuracy and to maximize battery charge time on the cell phone. The Mobile Geo is a Sendero product and it offers all of the advanced features found in the Sendero product discussed above. The Mobile Geo represents a tremendous advance in GPS system portability. A friend who uses the system carries his Smart phone and the GPS receiver in his shirt pocket! The Mobile Geo is the Cadillac of GPS systems for the blind in a much smaller package.

The drawbacks here are price and difficulty of installation. The price is not much of a drawback when one compares it to the other Sendero product and realizes that you’re getting the most fully-featured GPS system available. But the installation process is complex. The user must be sure to have the proper version of Mobile Speak, get the blue tooth receiver to mate with the phone and install the Mobile Jeo and any desired maps. This process can be daunting particularly if you’re purchasing the phone, Mobile Speak and Mobile Geo at the same time. For more information on the Mobile Geo go to mobile geo