UNIVERSITY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
             COMPUTER SCIENCE RESEARCH COLLOQUIUM

                            presents

                     "Interactive Audio Maps:
              Navigation without Sight or Satellites"

                      Esther-Anna Loeliger
                 (University of Hertfordshire, UK)

                    23 February 2011  (Wednesday)
                      Meeting Room LD454

                  Hatfield, College Lane Campus
                            1 -2  pm

                  Everyone is Welcome to Attend

                  Refreshments will be available

Abstract:

Moving house presents a particularly daunting challenge to blind and
partially sighted individuals. The council may send a mobility trainer
to help them explore the neighbourhood and settle in, but months could
pass before an appointment is available.

This presentation describes a computer-based audio map that seeks to
address this problem. Unlike some recent research in this area it does not
employ GPS-enabled satchels, belts or mobile phones. Instead, it allows
blind users to explore city maps from the safety of their home or office.

One key requirement  was that all map data and sounds be available
under Creative Commons licenses. The maps also had to be tested by a
significant number of end users, some blind, some fully sighted.

In the event, 72 individuals took part in the test, 39 of them blind
or partially sighted. In a sense the project began with the notion that
there is a need for such a system, and the diligence and patience with
which blind and partially sighted volunteers completed the levels seems
to suggest that this is the case.


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Hertfordshire Computer Science Research Colloquium
http://homepages.stca.herts.ac.uk/~nehaniv/colloq