[gps-talkusers] Re: Seeing Eye GPS Issues
- From: Randi Shelton <rshelton820@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: "gps-talkusers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <gps-talkusers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 15 Jul 2013 14:21:03 -0400
I like the speech of voiceover myself. As a person who also wears hearing aids,
I find other speech can be difficult or grating to lisen to for certain tasks.
I took the Blind Square app off my phone because I didn't care for the other
voices that app used. I wouldn't want other voices unless they were very clear
& easy to understand.
Sent from my iPhone
On Jul 15, 2013, at 2:11 PM, Jenny Wood <kc5gni@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> I would like to say that I do agree with one point in particular here, and
> that is the use of voiceover exclusively. I don't know how others feel on
> the subject, but personally, I find it more difficult to sort out the
> pertinent navigation information from anything and everything else voiceover
> may chatter about on the phone. I rather like that so many other GPS apps
> use a different voice to call out instructions, because it grabs my attention
> better than listening to a voice I hear constantly, and in many cases, tune
> out subconsciously. I realize that licensing for other voices can
> potentially drive up the overall cost of the app, but it does make me wonder
> how other developers obtain the voices they use. I know that both Apple and
> GoogleMaps now provide voice navigation, and neither seem to charge any more
> than they did before. Something I find interesting is that they all seem to
> use the same-sounding voice, so I don't know if that particular voice is
> available at a much lower cost than others, or what.
>
> Otherwise, I am pretty happy with the Seeing Eye GPS app. It was kind of
> cool letting it track our road trip to and from Austin this past weekend.
> Even though I didn't have a specific route set at the time, which I may
> actually do when we head back down there this Wednesday, it was refreshing to
> always know what city or town we were traveling in at any given time so that
> I didn't need to keep pestering my husband like a child. LOL I love road
> trips and learning the "lay of the land" so to speak, as we travel along. I
> didn't bother setting up a route this last time, because according to what I
> have read here, directions are not announced over 15mph anyway.
>
>
> --
>
> Jenny Wood
> Phone: (972) 989-3894
> Email: kc5gni@xxxxxxxxx
> Facebook/Twitter/Skype: kc5gni
>
>
>
>
> On Jul 15, 2013, at 12:35 PM, "Baracco, Andrew W" <Andrew.Baracco@xxxxxx>
> wrote:
>
>> I downloaded and installed this app shortly before leaving for the ACB
>> convention in Columbus OH, which I thought would be a great opportunity to
>> test the app in an unfamiliar environment. Like many, I was first confused
>> when the app was a free download, but had no functionality until you
>> purchased a subscription. I was surprised, because even if you buy a car,
>> you have a chance to test drive it.
>>
>> That being as it may, I couldn’t wait to put it through its paces in Ohio.
>> My first disappointment came when I discovered that it would not announce
>> intersections if you are traveling in a vehicle. I was so used to this
>> functionality in the Trekker, and I believe that it worked on the
>> Braillenote devices as well. I found a button that I thought would allow
>> for adjustment of this parameter, but tapping it did nothing.
>>
>> I also did a fair amount of walking in downtown Columbus, and was
>> disappointed there as well. There was a significant lag in performance, I.
>> e. intersections and POI’s would be announced long after I passed them.
>> Thank God I was walking with a sighted person. I was also disappointed that
>> the app relies exclusively on Voiceover, which is often hard to understand
>> in a noisy environment. Blind Square, and apps like Navigon and Tom Tom
>> offer additional voices. I think that for the price, having a HQ voice isn’t
>> asking too much. I would also like to have some control over the speed
>> threshold for announcing intersections, just like you can for POI’s. I
>> understand that this is a 1.0 release, but perhaps there should have been a
>> discount for those who purchase the initial product.
>>
>> Andy
>
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