[gps-talkusers] Re: Observations on the Seeing Eye iPhone App
- From: "Morninglory ***" <morninglory.peace@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: gps-talkusers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 4 Aug 2013 08:08:26 -0500
Wow! This is a superb review.
Thanks Kelly
On 8/3/13, Kelly Pierce <kellytalk@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> 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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