Tags: GPS, GPS for visually impaired, O&M
Global positioning system (GPS) technology is nearly everywhere. Today, GPS is in nearly every car on the road and every phone carried in a person’s pocket or purse. It’s now taken for granted that if you are planning a route from Chicago to Portland, or even just across town, you will use GPS systems. Whether you look it up on your phone or with your vehicle’s built-in guidance system, you get turn-by-turn navigation all the way there. If you get totally lost, GPS is often the first recourse to getting unlost. Interestingly, the technology behind this wayfinding change has only been widely available to the public since 2000.
GPS is an orientation and mobility (O&M) tool a traveler might use to supplement existing O&M skills. However, there are limitations of GPS technology that travelers with vision loss should know. While some products are briefly discussed here, this post is not intended as a comparison of GPS products. It is certainly not a training about, or promotion of, any particular product. The Resource section below contains links to videos and further resources that may help you decide on a particular solution, or at least answer questions about what these solutions look like.
Accessible versions of commonly available technology have to first be developed, and then catch up with the capabilities of technology available to the society at large. Usually, this catchup starts out with a few devices which are novel, cumbersome to use and very expensive. In the arena of GPS and wayfinding, examples of historical devices that fit the profile include the Sendero GPS for the Braille Note (2001) and the Trekker by Humanware.
As we approach the third decade of the 21st century, there’s an app for nearly everything. The question we often ask isn’t, “is there an app to help me with that?” We just assume there is. The question is, “Does that run on my device?” GPS apps are certainly no exception and are now standard features out of the box on any smart device you buy. The assistive technology world is catching up fast in this regard. The good news is that the prices are lower. In fact, some solutions cost nothing.
The BlindSquare app (2012) costs $40 and runs on iOS. The newer Lazarillo app, developed around 2016 by a Chilean startup firm and now housed in Tampa, is free and runs on both iOS and Android devices. Download them and play around.
There are both pros and cons to be considered from an orientation and mobility perspective. Many accessible GPS apps currently strive to offer the same things. So, depending on which app or solution you are using, you might reasonably use their GPS system to:
No GPS system, no matter how good, will ever replace basic O&M travel skills. GPS is a supplement to, not a replacement for, cane-based skills, dog guide use, and low vision scanning and tracking skills. Here are some things no GPS system does:
You may have the best GPS system currently on the market in your pocket right now. however, it’s not perfect. In fact, it will only get you within a few yards of your destination, so you will need those O&M skills to do the rest. Here are some things that can affect how well your GPS system is going to work:
Accessible GPS solutions are always improving, and more of them will be available as time passes. No solution is a replacement for sound foundational O&M skills. Used properly, GPS solutions can increase the amount of orientation information available to you.
These videos and other resources may help answer questions about particular systems and demonstrate what they can do. Feel free to explore, and if a free trial of an app is available, download it and see if it works for you.
Brad is Second Sense’s orientation and mobility intern