Hi,
In the future, could PDI do something similar, combining the braillenote and a
cell-phone? I'm sure lots is possible with windows ce 4.2.
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Email | Print | Most Popular | Headlines by EmailGuidance service for blind
combines cell phone and Wi-Fi
By MANS HULDEN
Associated Press
6/21/2004 The VTT unit can benefit sighted users, too.
Click to view larger pictureAssociated Press
A Finnish training officer for the visually impaired uses the voice-activated
VTT guidance system to cross the street.
HELSINKI, Finland - A government-sponsored research project aims to help the
blind move freely about town by combining cell phones, wireless Internet,
global positioning and voice-recognition technology to tell people where they
are. The project, called "Noppa," is being developed by the Technical Research
Center of Finland, or VTT, a nonprofit, government-owned research organization.
The system is ready for testing this fall.
The guidance system, which works with a 3G (third-generation) cellular phone
coupled to a GPS device, tells the users where they are, how to get where they
want to go and gives directions and explains obstacles by voice. "The idea is
that the user can say, "I'm going to such-and-such a place,' and the system
responds by saying which bus to take, and how to get to the stop," said Ari
Virtanen, a VTT researcher.
The device is also hooked up to municipal databases to warn about road and
sidewalk construction sites when giving directions, as well as inform about
train, streetcar and bus timetables and possible delays. If multiple buses use
the same stop, the Noppa service tells users where their bus is and when it's
expected to arrive at the stop so they know which one to board. A news and
information service is also available to read users the latest weather reports.
The project might include optional applications such as a collision detection
system that tells users about immediate obstacles, and a database that could
give a spoken version of signs on roads and in the surroundings. The project is
going to be evaluated by a group of blind testers in the fall, in Helsinki and
the city of Tampere. It's costing about $600,000, which is being picked up the
Finnish state.
The core of the system contains speech-recognition and production software that
relays requests and plays back replies in speech - all of which is performed at
a central server, not with the device. It identifies street names and basic
requests.
Operating the device with speech instead of pressing buttons is a crucial
feature for the blind, said Juha Sylberg, development manager at the Finnish
Federation of the Visually Impaired.
"Imagine digging out your cellular phone - which is the size of a large box of
matches - in midwinter, wearing thick mittens with rain and sleet whirling
around you, and then try to start keying away at these tiny buttons," Sylberg
said.
Although the project is not commercial, VTT's research often serves as a basis
for marketable products. And in this case, the researchers believe the features
and the products they're developing and testing would have a lot of appeal to a
general population.
On the Net: www.vtt.fi/tuo/53/projektit/noppa/noppaeng.htm
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