Tiler, laptops can be worn in backpack cases, and netbooks can be worn in over-the-shoulder cases similar to those for notetakers.
An ear-bud or bluetooth headset (with one ear left off the ear) can provide you with the audio output you need as you travel along. this isn't designed so much as a replacement for a notetaker system, as it is an interesting add-on for someone who owns a laptop, and perhaps would be carrying it anyway. and if you're a passenger on a bus, in a taxi, or just being given a ride by a friend, and you're expected to provide directions, or know when you're to get off of the bus, then you can put the netbook or laptop on your lap, and have it give you the turn-by-turn directions you need to guide your driver, or tell you about upcoming stops on a bus. Chip -----Original Message----- From: Tylers Scripting [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Wednesday, December 09, 2009 5:30 PM To: [email protected] Subject: re: looking for collaborators for a GPS project Hi Chip, Are you going to make little lanyards for us to hang our laptops around our neck? How are you going to cary a laptop, a white cane, and whatever else you're carrying with two hands? Tyler > ----- Original Message ----- >From: "Allison and Chip Orange" <[email protected] >To: <[email protected] >Date sent: Wed, 9 Dec 2009 17:13:01 -0500 >Subject: looking for collaborators for a GPS project >Hi all, >some years ago I started a laptop-based GPS navigation project for the >visually impaired. it was meant to be very similar in functionality to >those published by sendero, except that it would run on laptops. now we've >got netbooks to work with, and so it seems even more usable. >the project gets it's mapping data from Microsoft Mappoint, which makes it >visible via an object model. it has data equivalent to that of Sendero's >products, including millions of POIs, but it's not nearly so easy to get at >for personal navigation purposes as I imagine Sendero's data interface is, >so progress is slow. MapPoint is mostly designed to display graphically >various datasets on top of street map data, and so some finesse with the >object model is needed. any user of this system would need to buy a copy of >MapPoint, which can be had for as little as $99 sometimes. >I had originally written it in visual foxpro, but MS has abandoned (or "end >of lifed") that product. >anyway, I've started rewriting the project using vb script under window >eyes, even though I know this will make it accessible to a lot fewer people. >I made that decision mostly because I thought it would be the fastest way >I'd be able to get a working project out the door, and users can obtain a >free 90 day trial of MapPoint to try it out. >what's happened is that I've been hit by health problems, and I'm not able >to dedicate much time to the project. >some version of it is working now; for instance, you can press a "where am >I" key, and be told the nearest street address. a very basic system is in >place for adding your own points of interest. >what I'm looking for is someone who is interested in GPS navigation, and is >an experienced vb scripter, and who would like to come in as a collaborator >on the project. >I have plans to add some features not found in Sendero's products, just to >make it more useful, and I've made the GPS handling module a shared object, >so that other programmers can possibly develop location-based applications >or features in their projects. >If you have questions how about posting them here on the list if you think >others may be interested in the answers, and if you'd like to discuss being >a collaborator, write me off the list at my home address of >[email protected] >even if you're not interested in being a collaborator, I would like to hear >from those who think such a laptop/netbook solution would be a good idea. >obviously, it's going to be harder to work with a laptop while moving >around, and so thought will need to go into more automatic functionality, >and means of interfacing with the program other than the keyboard. I would >like to explore the free vista/windows 7 speech recognition for instance. >thanks. >Chip
