Wow! This is a superb review. Thanks Kelly On 8/3/13, Kelly Pierce <kellytalk@xxxxxxxxx> wrote: > I have used the Sendero Seeing Eye talking GPS iPhone app and have > some observations that I wish to share. Logs of a couple trips that > demonstrate these issues have already been sent to Sendero. I wonder > if others have encountered the same issues. > > First, I like the app. It puts navigation and point of interest data > into one affordable package. In a recent trip to a northern suburb of > Dallas, Texas, the app proved invaluable. I used the accessible Four > Square point of interest data to find a Brazilian steak house where I > had an amazing meal. I would not have found this without the ap. > Hotel staff, including the concierge, only mentioned bland chain > restaurants when asked about food choices in the area. I wish though > the Sendero Seeing Eye app had the additional Four Square information, > like menus and websites, as Blind Square does. Without this direct > access, I obtained additional information about the restaurant from a > Google search in Safari. > > Server side maps that are up to date were a necessity in the northern > Dallas suburb of Frisco where I visited. The city is rapidly growing > and changing. The 2000 census showed a population of about 34,000 > that grew to about 117,000 in 2010. As of August 2013, the population > is estimated to be 134,000. With this much development, maps on the > phone just a few years old likely would be completely inadequate for > reliable travel here. > > The Sendero Seeing Eye app was especially useful at the Dallas Fort > Worth International Airport. It is the eighth busiest in the world > for passenger volume and a major transfer center and hub for American > Airlines, the world’s fourth biggest carrier by passenger volume in > 2012. Through points of interest from Four Square, every gate, > restaurant, and transportation Security Administration screening area > was identified. Upon entering the airport, I was directed to the > nearest TSA screening location. After my security screen, I found the > only eatery serving family style meals at the airport. Otherwise, I > would have likely relied on a hot dog stand or Dunkin Donuts by my > gate. Instead, the app led me to a place where I could have a full > chicken dinner with a green vegetable and mashed potatoes. After > dinner, I then used the app to direct me to my gate. The app counted > down the number of feet until I arrived at my gate. Thanks to floor > to ceiling windows throughout the airport, I had a constant data > connection. Many blind people say they need sighted assistance to find > their way around the world’s largest airports. With the Seeing Eye > app, I had all the help and support I could possibly need to locate > good food options and the departure gate for my flight. > > As mentioned in various reviews and audio demonstrations, the Sendero > Seeing Eye app has significant audio feedback for the blind traveler. > I found the treatment of diagonal streets especially helpful. The app > informed me of the diagonal street in terms of clockface orientation > rather than in degrees of angularity, as if it were a complicated > geometry exercise. > > The app is not without limitations and problems. During several trips > here in Chicago, the app froze, announcing points of interest but not > updating itself to the current location. On several different trips, > it reported the same number of feet to a location and remaining at > this estimate even after walking a block or two. Without > recalculating the root, the app would take several minutes to begin > offering accurate location information again. Often, I was well > inside my destination when the app would finally find its real > location and announce that I had arrived. Usually, it was necessary to > recalculate the root to restore functionality when the app stalled or > froze. I also found it helpful to recalculate when the app > temporarily lost the data connection. In my neighborhood, many > buildings are built right to the lot line with no setback. Walking > next to a wall of three and four story buildings may cause the > wireless signal to refract, offering less than an ideal data > connection. It is the stalling and the elaborate announcements that > the app has lost a cell signal and then found one that stands as a > frustrating experience with the app. This fragility does not deliver > confidence. > > Another frustrating glitch is when the app says “unknown” when it > normally speaks a street name. Often the street name was spoken by > the app previously so the street has been labeled by the mapping > software. Yet, the app frequently claims a street name is unknown for > even short trips that are less than a half a mile. The reoccurring > unknown street name problem diminishes my confidence in the Sendero > Seeing Eye app solution for my independent travel needs. > > The point of interest announcements while walking are only partially > helpful. POI locations are announced one or two blocks away. When > announced, the address is not given nor is the distance from the > current location and its direction. It is impossible to know if I am > standing in front of the POI or if it is 700 feet away. While bars in > my neighborhood are announced one to two blocks away, tall and highly > visible buildings that are part of the Chicago skyline are announced > only when the end user is near their front entrance even though they > can be seen from blocks away. I wonder if Sendero has considered > limiting the announced POIs to only those locations with high numbers > of Four Square check ins, as is the practice with Blind Square. The > Seeing Eye app does not help the user really understand the actual > physical locations of places in the community. Further, the app does > nothing to help the user learn if the POI is on the side of the street > of travel. When walking in an urban retail district, I only want to > know the shops I am passing and in front of me, not those on the other > side of the street. Currently, the POI presentation is chaotic rather > than well organized. > > I liked the additional support of directional information found in the > app. The kind of information provided, its placement, frequency, and > wording were all very helpful and appropriate. Unfortunately, the > volume of the male voice is consistently at a level quieter than > VoiceOver. I have not tried the app with VoiceOver voices from outside > North America to learn if the volume differential is consistent with > all English languages though. I wonder if this issue continues with > iOS7. > > Overall, the Sendero Seeing Eye GPS iPhone app stands as a significant > innovation in the advancement of independence and community > integration by blind people. As a one of a kind accessibility product, > it is highly helpful and surpasses in convenience and affordability > other similar technology that preceded it. Yet at this time it falls > short of excellence and greatness by failing to deliver a consistently > reliable and seamless experience as is found with award winning > accessible iPhone apps. Clearly, additional development will be > necessary to achieve this level of usability and functionality. I am > looking forward to future versions. > > Kelly > To change your email settings (unsubscribe, digest only, or vacation mode): > http://senderogroup.com/social_media/email.htm > > Additionally, to unsubscribe send an email to > gps-talkusers-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with "unsubscribe" in the Subject. > To change your email settings (unsubscribe, digest only, or vacation mode): http://senderogroup.com/social_media/email.htm Additionally, to unsubscribe send an email to gps-talkusers-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with "unsubscribe" in the Subject.