Bluetooth: helping blind people to see
p2pnet news view Cool | P2P:- Talking Points is a, “GROCS funded collaborative project whose aim is develop a prototype urban orientation and contextual information system,” says the project site, going on »»»
By using a mobile computer to read Bluetooth tags positioned around a city, such as Ann Arbor, user generated location information is presented to the user via either an audio or visual modular interface. Information about each location on which the tag placed is stored in an online database. This information is retrieved by the cellular data connected mobile device when the user comes within close proximity to a “Talking Point.” The information for each Talking Point is maintained by the Talking Points community; anyone can add, modify, or delete information for each Talking Point.
GROCS? A, “Digital Media Commons program to fund student research on the use of digital media in collaborative learning.”What it all boils down to, says Sara Lipka on Wired Campus, is a mobile computer able to read wireless transmitters, “allowing blind people to navigate a city, could serve seeing pedestrians as well”.
The mobile computers, about the size of a paperback, detect Bluetooth tags on city landmarks and other points.
Members of the Talking Points community can edit the data, stored in an online database.”The project is similar to others — including one at Carnegie Mellon University — but Michigan says its use of Bluetooth, voice-command software, and user-generated content sets Talking Points apart,” says the story.
Behind Talking Point are: Jason Stewart, first year graduate student at the University of Michigan’s School of Information; Michelle Escobar, second year graduate student, SI; Sara Baumann, a senior at UM’s LS&A in the sociology department and residential college; Jakob Hilden, first year graduate student, SI; Kumud Bihani, graduate student, SI; Jim Knox, working at UM’s adaptive technology computing site and a member of a former Talking-Points project; and, Mark W. Newman, an SI assistant professor.
Wired Campus – U. of Michigan Students Use Bluetooth to Help Blind and Seeing Pedestrians Roam Cities, October 14, 2008
Use free p2pnet newsfeeds for your site. It`s really easy!Subscribe to p2pnet.net | | rss feed: http://p2pnet.net/p2p.rss | | Mobile – http://p2pnet.net/index-wml.php
Net access blocked by government restrictions? Use Psiphon from the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto. Go here for details.
October 15th, 2008 at 8:19 pm
So, when shall somebody start adding Wikipedia articles to these talking points? May the real world and the cyber world merge into one in small steps like this.
October 16th, 2008 at 11:40 pm
âallowing blind people to navigate a city…â I’m totally blind, and I already navigate cities just fine, thanks. Cool technology though, even if it most likely won’t change things.