[gps-talkusers] Observations on the Seeing Eye iPhone App
- From: Kelly Pierce <kellytalk@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: gps-talkusers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 3 Aug 2013 20:56:30 -0500
I have used the Sendero Seeing Eye talking GPS iPhone app and have
some observations that I wish to share. Logs of a couple trips that
demonstrate these issues have already been sent to Sendero. I wonder
if others have encountered the same issues.
First, I like the app. It puts navigation and point of interest data
into one affordable package. In a recent trip to a northern suburb of
Dallas, Texas, the app proved invaluable. I used the accessible Four
Square point of interest data to find a Brazilian steak house where I
had an amazing meal. I would not have found this without the ap.
Hotel staff, including the concierge, only mentioned bland chain
restaurants when asked about food choices in the area. I wish though
the Sendero Seeing Eye app had the additional Four Square information,
like menus and websites, as Blind Square does. Without this direct
access, I obtained additional information about the restaurant from a
Google search in Safari.
Server side maps that are up to date were a necessity in the northern
Dallas suburb of Frisco where I visited. The city is rapidly growing
and changing. The 2000 census showed a population of about 34,000
that grew to about 117,000 in 2010. As of August 2013, the population
is estimated to be 134,000. With this much development, maps on the
phone just a few years old likely would be completely inadequate for
reliable travel here.
The Sendero Seeing Eye app was especially useful at the Dallas Fort
Worth International Airport. It is the eighth busiest in the world
for passenger volume and a major transfer center and hub for American
Airlines, the world’s fourth biggest carrier by passenger volume in
2012. Through points of interest from Four Square, every gate,
restaurant, and transportation Security Administration screening area
was identified. Upon entering the airport, I was directed to the
nearest TSA screening location. After my security screen, I found the
only eatery serving family style meals at the airport. Otherwise, I
would have likely relied on a hot dog stand or Dunkin Donuts by my
gate. Instead, the app led me to a place where I could have a full
chicken dinner with a green vegetable and mashed potatoes. After
dinner, I then used the app to direct me to my gate. The app counted
down the number of feet until I arrived at my gate. Thanks to floor
to ceiling windows throughout the airport, I had a constant data
connection. Many blind people say they need sighted assistance to find
their way around the world’s largest airports. With the Seeing Eye
app, I had all the help and support I could possibly need to locate
good food options and the departure gate for my flight.
As mentioned in various reviews and audio demonstrations, the Sendero
Seeing Eye app has significant audio feedback for the blind traveler.
I found the treatment of diagonal streets especially helpful. The app
informed me of the diagonal street in terms of clockface orientation
rather than in degrees of angularity, as if it were a complicated
geometry exercise.
The app is not without limitations and problems. During several trips
here in Chicago, the app froze, announcing points of interest but not
updating itself to the current location. On several different trips,
it reported the same number of feet to a location and remaining at
this estimate even after walking a block or two. Without
recalculating the root, the app would take several minutes to begin
offering accurate location information again. Often, I was well
inside my destination when the app would finally find its real
location and announce that I had arrived. Usually, it was necessary to
recalculate the root to restore functionality when the app stalled or
froze. I also found it helpful to recalculate when the app
temporarily lost the data connection. In my neighborhood, many
buildings are built right to the lot line with no setback. Walking
next to a wall of three and four story buildings may cause the
wireless signal to refract, offering less than an ideal data
connection. It is the stalling and the elaborate announcements that
the app has lost a cell signal and then found one that stands as a
frustrating experience with the app. This fragility does not deliver
confidence.
Another frustrating glitch is when the app says “unknown” when it
normally speaks a street name. Often the street name was spoken by
the app previously so the street has been labeled by the mapping
software. Yet, the app frequently claims a street name is unknown for
even short trips that are less than a half a mile. The reoccurring
unknown street name problem diminishes my confidence in the Sendero
Seeing Eye app solution for my independent travel needs.
The point of interest announcements while walking are only partially
helpful. POI locations are announced one or two blocks away. When
announced, the address is not given nor is the distance from the
current location and its direction. It is impossible to know if I am
standing in front of the POI or if it is 700 feet away. While bars in
my neighborhood are announced one to two blocks away, tall and highly
visible buildings that are part of the Chicago skyline are announced
only when the end user is near their front entrance even though they
can be seen from blocks away. I wonder if Sendero has considered
limiting the announced POIs to only those locations with high numbers
of Four Square check ins, as is the practice with Blind Square. The
Seeing Eye app does not help the user really understand the actual
physical locations of places in the community. Further, the app does
nothing to help the user learn if the POI is on the side of the street
of travel. When walking in an urban retail district, I only want to
know the shops I am passing and in front of me, not those on the other
side of the street. Currently, the POI presentation is chaotic rather
than well organized.
I liked the additional support of directional information found in the
app. The kind of information provided, its placement, frequency, and
wording were all very helpful and appropriate. Unfortunately, the
volume of the male voice is consistently at a level quieter than
VoiceOver. I have not tried the app with VoiceOver voices from outside
North America to learn if the volume differential is consistent with
all English languages though. I wonder if this issue continues with
iOS7.
Overall, the Sendero Seeing Eye GPS iPhone app stands as a significant
innovation in the advancement of independence and community
integration by blind people. As a one of a kind accessibility product,
it is highly helpful and surpasses in convenience and affordability
other similar technology that preceded it. Yet at this time it falls
short of excellence and greatness by failing to deliver a consistently
reliable and seamless experience as is found with award winning
accessible iPhone apps. Clearly, additional development will be
necessary to achieve this level of usability and functionality. I am
looking forward to future versions.
Kelly
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