[tabi] Re: Blind drivers plot their own course
- From: "Blackjack" <blackjack2@xxxxxxx>
- To: <tabi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 8 Aug 2009 09:26:06 -0400
Yes, My blackjack has a built in GPS but Wave finder don't work on it. Wave
finder just works on Simmons Phone. Mobile Geo works on Windows base Smart
Phones/PDA/Pocket PC.
Thanks,
Blackjack
blackjack2@xxxxxxx
-----Original Message-----
From: tabi-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:tabi-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf
Of Easy Talk
Sent: Saturday, August 08, 2009 9:02 AM
To: tabi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [tabi] Re: Blind drivers plot their own course
Some phones now have built in GPS receivers that can be used with the
Accessible version of way finder. I think Way Finder is cheaper than some
of the other solutions but I think I heard you have to have a internet
connection and downloading of maps is kind of slow.
Robert
----- Original Message -----
From: "Allison and Chip Orange" <acorange@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <tabi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, August 07, 2009 9:08 PM
Subject: [tabi] Re: Blind drivers plot their own course
> Hi Blackjack,
>
> I've ordered one for myself, and so I'll let you know in a week or so.
> however, it should be perfectly accessible, as it's just an accessory,
> like
> a set of headphones. you need a talking navigation system to make use of
> it; it's just the GPS receiver.
>
> this particular model is a usb device, so you need one which allows for
> external usb gps receivers. that would be one of the ones based around a
> notetaker for certain, maybe others as well.
>
> as I said there are bluetooth versions of these new high-sensitivity
> receivers, so they would work with a system running on say a smart phone,
> if
> that phone has a bluetooth capability. I believe there is a talking
> navigational system for smart phones, I think from Sendaro group, and I
> think it's mobile Geo. you'll have to do your homework to verify that,
> but
> there are several ways you could make use of this next generation
> technology
> anyway.
>
> hth,
>
> Chip
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: tabi-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:tabi-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On
> Behalf
> Of Blackjack
> Sent: Friday, August 07, 2009 9:00 PM
> To: tabi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [tabi] Re: Blind drivers plot their own course
>
> Ok, is it accessible? If so how accessible?
>
>
> Thanks,
> Blackjack
> blackjack2@xxxxxxx
> -----Original Message-----
> From: tabi-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:tabi-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On
> Behalf
> Of Chip Orange
> Sent: Friday, August 07, 2009 10:36 AM
> To: tabi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [tabi] Re: Blind drivers plot their own course
>
> Hi blackjack,
>
> I agree with your wishlist.
>
> there is an effort on to have all the consumer electronics have an
> accessibility option. I'm not sure where that effort is, but I think with
> our aging population, it will start to happen.
>
> One small point I wanted to mention to you was the availability of a gps
> which usually works indoors.
>
> the core chipset is probably available in many consumer products; they
> usually advertise it as "high-sensitivity". the one I'm familiar with is
> the 16 channel EarthMate lt-40, which on sale can be had for as little as
> $35. It's WAAS enabled (something which gives you much more precise
> positioning in north america), and it's high-sensitivity, and has a cold
> start time of around 30 seconds. if you have a gps navigating system
> which
> uses external gps receivers, I'd definitely upgrade to something like
> this.
>
> other, less well known companies, seem to offer rechargible bluetooth
> versions as well (such as Qstarz).
>
> hth,
>
> Chip
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Chip Orange
> Database Administrator
> Florida Public Service Commission
>
> Chip.Orange@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> (850) 413-6314
>
> (Any opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not
> necessarily reflect those of the Florida Public Service Commission.)
>
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: tabi-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> [mailto:tabi-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Blackjack
>> Sent: Wednesday, August 05, 2009 5:04 AM
>> To: tabi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> Subject: [tabi] Re: Blind drivers plot their own course
>>
>> Hi, this is fine and great like to see things like this going on that
>> might be of benefit to us maybe in the next 25 to 50 years. Which will
>> be all most to late for me! What I would like to see more of right now
>> and I personally think would be of much more benefit to us in everyday
>> life is some of these examples. Example: All major appliance being
>> completely accessible, Majority of electronics being completely
>> accessible or at the least mostly accessible, such as ( TV menus,
>> Radios, House and cell phones being completely accessible, Satellite
>> and cable boxes accessible and GPS that is completely accessible at a
>> reasonable price and they would work in most business buildings). This
>> all would be a start with stuff that would really help right now! This
>> is what I would like to see happen in the next say 5 years. Just my
>> thoughts.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Blackjack
>> blackjack2@xxxxxxx
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: tabi-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> [mailto:tabi-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Lynn Evans
>> Sent: Tuesday, August 04, 2009 8:57 PM
>> To: tabi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> Subject: [tabi] Blind drivers plot their own course
>>
>> Blind Drivers Plot Their Own Course
>> Va. Tech Prototype Vehicle Lets Visually Impaired Students Take the
>> Wheel
>>
>> By Daniel de Vise
>> Washington Post Staff Writer
>> Saturday, August 1, 2009
>>
>> A voice rose above the chatter in the University of Maryland parking
>> lot: "Blind man driving!"
>>
>> Twenty people took turns piloting a car on this muggy Friday morning,
>> the first public test of technology that might one day overcome
>> barriers to putting the blind behind the wheel.
>>
>> The quest to drive has captivated the blind community as it has become
>> more integrated into a car-centric society. Some likened Friday's test
>> to a moon landing -- a fitting analogy, considering that the prototype
>> vehicle vaguely resembled a lunar rover.
>>
>> "One day, we'll be on the road with them," said Ishaan Rastogi, 15, a
>> blind New Jersey high school student with a Yankees cap pulled over
>> his eyes and the first to test the vehicle.
>>
>> The event capped a
>> <http://www.blindscience.org/ncbys/youth_slam.asp>summer
>> science academy
>> organized by the National Federation of the Blind for 200 blind and
>> low-vision young people from across the country. The youths had spent
>> the week rock climbing, bungee-jumping and launching weather balloons,
>> activities tailored to teach that there is no limit to what a blind
>> person can do.
>>
>> Virginia Tech engineers started work on the vehicle in response to a
>> 2004 challenge from the blindness advocacy group to build a vehicle
>> that the blind could drive with the same freedom as the sighted.
>>
>> "Blind people can do all sorts of things that the public doesn't think
>> we can do," said Chris Danielsen, spokesman for the federation.
>> The blind can read ordinary books with a hand-held device that
>> translates type to synthetic speech. Adaptive devices permit blind
>> users to interact with computers and surf the Internet.
>>
>> Driving without sight became a conceivable goal in this decade with
>> the development of autonomous, computer-guided vehicles. The Defense
>> Advanced Research Projects Agency ran a series of
>> <http://www.darpa.mil/grandchallenge/index.asp>contests to inspire a
>> driverless car that could navigate complex terrain. By 2007, vehicles
>> from Virginia Tech and several other universities could complete the
>> DARPA course.
>>
>> But an autonomous vehicle wasn't enough.
>>
>> "We want the blind person to be the driver, not to be driven," said
>> Matt Lippy, 21, a member of the nine-person design team at
>> <http://www.me.vt.edu/romela/RoMeLa/RoMeLa.html>Virginia
>> Tech's Robotics &
>> Mechanisms Laboratory.
>>
>> The design team first sought to customize Virginia Tech's entry in the
>> 2007 DARPA contest, a modified Ford Escape that finished third in the
>> competition. But the engineers decided it would be easier to start
>> from scratch. They purchased an all-terrain vehicle online for $1,300
>> in fall
>> 2008 and began anew.
>>
>> They mounted a laser sensor to the front of the vehicle to sweep the
>> terrain ahead and return a signal. A powerful computer at the rear of
>> the buggy interprets the signal to build a two-dimensional map,
>> showing obstacles in the vehicle's path.
>>
>> But how to show that map to a person who cannot see?
>>
>> Researchers boiled down the data to two crucial factors: direction and
>> speed. A computer voice signals the driver through headphones how to
>> steer to avoid a collision -- one click to the left, for example;
>> three clicks to the right.
>>
>> "We call it a back-seat driver," Lippy said.
>>
>> The increments correspond to notches cut from the steering wheel. The
>> driver turns the wheel and hears an audible "click."
>>
>> The computer communicates speed with vibrations fed through a vest
>> worn by the driver. Stronger vibrations indicate it is time to stop.
>> Sensors automatically kill the engine if the vehicle gets too close to
>> an impediment. For the test drives, engineers rigged the buggy for a
>> top speed of 15 mph.
>>
>> One by one Friday morning, drivers buzzed around Parking Lot 1D, empty
>> save for traffic cones placed at intervals around light poles.
>> There were no mishaps.
>>
>> "It's finally a chance to drive," said Angel Reyes, 16, a junior at
>> New Brunswick High School in New Jersey, as he climbed from the
>> vehicle.
>> "Finally a chance to be more independent in getting where you want to
>> go."
>>
>> When the team first tested the buggy in May, three blind drivers
>> completed a curved course without hitting a single cone. In fact, the
>> blind drivers -- who had never driven before -- fared better than the
>> engineers themselves, who tried steering the car blindfolded. Lippy
>> thinks that the experienced drivers tended to ignore the computer
>> signals and follow their own instincts; the blind drivers obeyed the
>> computer to the letter.
>>
>> The blind drivers posed questions that had not occurred to the
>> engineers.
>> How would they find the vehicle in a parking lot? If they had to jump
>> the battery, how could they tell the positive cable from the negative?
>>
>> The engineers say their first Blind Driver Challenge vehicle is crude.
>> The computer can sense and avoid obstacles but cannot plot a course to
>> a destination. The team is working on a more sophisticated interface
>> to deliver signals to drivers. Their goal is to convert the
>> two-dimensional map plotted by the computer into something a blind
>> driver can touch.
>>
>> They have tested a grid of air holes that shoot bursts of air, using
>> various pulses and pressures, to convey topographical data. (A higher
>> pressure could signal hills or bumps.)
>>
>> "You have to understand, this is a prototype," said Dennis Hong, an
>> associate professor at Virginia Tech who directs the robotics lab.
>> "First time in the history of mankind."
>>
>> He predicts a safe, stable technology for blind motorists will arrive
>> "within the next three years. The problem is not the technology. The
>> problem is public perception and legal issues."
>>
>> He urges detractors to think of the last time they flew in an
>> airplane. "On autopilot," he said. "Nobody questions that."
>>
>>
>> VICUG-L is the Visually Impaired Computer User Group List.
>> Archived on the World Wide Web at
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>
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>
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Check out the TABI resource web page at
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