> I
> suppose that you wouldn't use a full headset but possibly an earpiece.
>
> Looking forward to further info.
>
> All the best,
>
> Tony Sweeney.
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Sandberg, Robert" <robert.sandberg@xxxxxxx>
> To: <vicsireland@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Monday, January 22, 2007 10:15 AM
> Subject: [vicsireland] Re: Well positioned in Dublin and Cork with GPS
>
>
> Hi folks!
> Yes, I will add my congratulations to the previous ones. It's a very
> thorough report and you've obviously put a lot of pioneer work into
> boosting it in Ireland.
> Just a couple of thoughts on the receiver and downloading Loadstone.
> I'm using the Globosat receiver, which is slightly larger than the
> Holux, maybe the size of a fat matchbox, but it doesn't give me any
> problems with reception or linking to the phone. In fact, I didn't even
> have to set up a Bluetooth pairing, which I did with my headset.
> Loadstone recognized it right away. It comes with a Velcro cover which
> I
> usually attach to a strap of my back pack.
> I'd say the easiest way of putting Loadstone on your phone is to
> download it strait on to it from the website. However I'm not sure
> which
> Talks version is required to access the web with your phone. I managed
> it with Talks Premium.
>
> And here's a question for the 3 Loadstoneers. According to the report
> only one of you used a headset. How did that work for you and how did
> the other two go about it. Personally I've a bit of a problem with
> using
> the headset. Of course it's the only alternative to constantly holding
> the phone up to your ear, but I find that my hearing is slightly
> impaired when I wear it. Although it doesn't even fill out the ear like
> a walkman earphone does, it affects my directional hearing. Say I have
> someone walking in front of me, I can't tell where exactly they are in
> order to overtake them. Also I walk very slowly because it's harder to
> tell upcoming obstacles. That's really put me off using it a lot. It
> would be interesting to know if any of the 3 testers are GDO's and if
> cane users and GDO's make different experiences. I would assume that a
> GDO might have less of a problem with using a headset.
> Cheers,
> Robbie
> -----Original Message-----
> From: vicsireland-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> [mailto:vicsireland-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Joan Ann Brosnan
> Sent: Sonntag, 21. Januar 2007 22:46
> To: vics
> Subject: [vicsireland] Re: Well positioned in Dublin and Cork with GPS
>
> Hi Ronan
>
> This is a very interesting report on Loadstone and it seems to be of
> huge
> benefit to blind people especially since Loadstone users can gather
> points
> of interest and share them with other users.
>
> I have been using loadstone and a Holux GPs receiver since last week
> and
> so,
> I'm still familiarizing myself with the program but, so far, I have
> been
> very impressed with its capabilities.
>
> If you know of any settings within loadstone that I should change for
> use in
> Ireland or have any useful tips, they would be great.
>
> Joan Ann.
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Ronan McGuirk" <
> ronan.mcguirk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>
> To: <
> vicsireland@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>
> Sent: Saturday, January 20, 2007 4:43 PM
> Subject: [vicsireland] Well positioned in Dublin and Cork with GPS
>
>> Hello to the VICS list. I am enclosing our report on the use of
> Loadstone
>> below. We look forward to the comments of VICS members.
>>
>>
>>
>> Ronan
>>
>>
>>
>> Report Begins:
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Well positioned in Dublin and Cork
>>
>> - GPS and a mobile phone as a mobility aid for people with a vision
>> impairment
>>
>> - authors: Aedan O'Meara, Cearbhall O'Meadhra, Ronan McGuirk
>>
>>
>>
>> Date January 2007
>>
>>
>>
>> Overview
>>
>>
>>
>> Over the past few months we have been experimenting with mobile phones
>> interacting with the Global Positioning System to assess the
> usefulness of
>>
>> this technology as a mobility aid to people with a vision impairment.
>>
>> We have been carrying out a trial of the Loadstone-GPS system at two
>> locations in Ireland, (Dublin and Cork). In this short paper we
> summarise
>> our experiences and are pleased to report that the experiment was
>> successful.
>>
>>
>>
>> What is the Global Positioning System?
>>
>>
>>
>> The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a satellite navigation system.
> A
>> set
>> of satellites is in orbit around the Earth. These satellites transmit
>> radio
>> signals and a person with a GPS receiver can determine his/her
> location
>> based on these satellite signals. There is a very good article
> explaining
>> the Global Positioning System in Wikipedia at
>>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Positioning_System
>>
>
>>
>>
>> What is Loadstone?
>>
>>
>>
>> Loadstone-GPS is a free program designed for Series 60 Symbian mobile
>> phones. This software has been designed to work well with screen
> readers
>> such as Talks or Mobile Speak on the mobile phones. In order for
>> Loadstone-GPS to work, it requires a separate GPS receiver that is
>> connected
>> to the mobile phone using Bluetooth.
>>
>> It is worth noting that the hardware is standard off-the-shelf
> equipment.
>> It is not specially designed for visually impaired people.
> Furthermore,
>> the
>>
>> Loadstone-GPS program itself is free.
>>
>>
>>
>> For more information on Loadstone-GPS check out the Loadstone website
> at
>>
>>
> www.loadstone-gps.com
>>
>
>>
>>
>> What equipment did we use?
>>
>>
>>
>> Ronan used a Nokia 6600 with Talks 2.5 premium edition together with a
>> Holux
>> Slim 236 GPS receiver.
>>
>> Aedan used a Nokia 6680 with Talks 3.0 premium edition with dictionary
> and
>> a Holux slim 236 GPS receiver.
>>
>> Cearbhall used a Nokia 6680 with Talks 3.0 premium edition with
>> dictionary,
>> ThinkOutside Bluetooth keyboard, Motorola Bluetooth earphone And a
> Holux
>> slim 236 GPS receiver.
>>
>>
>>
>> How we used Loadstone
>>
>>
>>
>> The Global Positioning system works by receiving radio signals from
>> Satellites and calculating the location of the receiver as a point of
>>
>> Latitude and longitude on the Earth.
>>
>>
>>
>> When you install Loadstone on your mobile phone and get it working
> with
>> your
>> GPS receiver, it can tell you your latitude and longitude, altitude
> and
>> speed and direction of movement. However, to make full use of it, it
> is
>> Necessary to have a way of converting latitude and longitude to place
>> names
>> or as they are called "points of interest, or P.O.I.s".
>>
>>
>>
>> Loadstone, which is being written by a blind programmer, is specially
>> designed to make the recording of any point of interest to you
> absolutely
>> simple. Pressing the hash key in the Loadstone program on your mobile
>> phone
>> puts you into an edit box and it is similar to entering a text
> message.
>>
>>
>>
>> After using Loadstone for a few months we collected hundreds of point
>> names.
>> The types of point names we collected included train stations, Luas
>> stations, shops, pubs and many road junctions.
>>
>>
>>
>> Ronan found that he could use loadstone to tell which train station
> the
>> Dublin Dart had stopped at. Using Loadstone on the Dart train gives a
>> great
>> deal of information. Not only can you tell which station you are at,
> but
>> also when the train is moving you can tell the speed and direction.
> You
>> can
>> follow the curve of Dublin Bay as the train leaves Dun Laoghaire
> heading
>> due
>> west and gradually curves through the compass till it is heading
> north.
>> Ronan found that he needed to learn the meaning of compass points such
> as
>> West By North, and East by North East. Using Loadstone gives a very
> rich
>> understanding of your location, speed, direction and altitude
> especially
>> if
>> you are travelling in a bus or a car.
>>
>>
>>
>> Cearbhall collected points along the seafront in Bray. This is a half
>> kilometre of straight esplanade with no distinguishing features. He
> was
>> able
>> to use Loadstone to mark the point of entry to the esplanade (a
> particular
>> set of steps and buildings alongside the walk that identified
> different
>> parts of the route.
>>
>>
>>
>> When you have collected a set of points yourself or downloaded them
> from
>> the
>> point share exchange, Loadstone is a good help when trying to
> understand
>> your current location or find a point of interest. It is simple to
> ask
>> Loadstone what the nearest point is or to get the direction and
> distance
>> to
>> a point you wish to reach. Loadstone is not a substitute for a long
> cane
>> or
>> a guide dog, but it is a useful addition to your existing method of
>> mobility.
>>
>>
>>
>> How to look up an Internet map to get latitude and longitude
>>
>>
>>
>> There is a web site at
>>
>>
> http://stevemorse.org/jcal/latlon.php
> with a search facility that is very
>> simple and will give you the latitude and Longitude of any town or
> large
>> village in Ireland, or anywhere else in the world. It will also do the
>> reverse. If you capture a point with loadstone you can look it up on
> this
>> website to get the street address. Ronan found that it usually gives
> the
>> correct street name in Dublin but the address number of the house is
> only
>> an
>> approximation.
>>
>>
>>
>> Comparison of Loadstone with other location systems
>>
>>
>>
>> Unlike mapping systems which some of us have over a year's experience
> of,
>> Loadstone stands out as the only viable and cost effective option for
> the
>> visually impaired who wish to be told at any time exactly where they
> are
>> on
>> the surface of the earth. (yes, you can use it anywhere on the surface
> of
>> the earth, even at the poles though we haven't tried this yet!).
>>
>>
>>
>> At the moment the list of already labelled points of interest is only
>> being
>> built by the voluntary efforts of current users. It is therefore a
> very
>> rewarding project to be involved in as the information you gather will
> be
>> there for generations to come who might need it! This is the only
> program
>> that allows you to build entirely your own route to suit bus, train,
> or
>> any
>> other off the road route. It is totally portable and once one is used
> to
>> it
>> you will never leave it at home!
>>
>>
>>
>> Aedan has gone back to using Wayfinder for comparison purposes as he
> used
>> it
>> for a year before getting Loadstone. He reports that his installation
> of
>> Wayfinder, in his circumstances, was totally sterile in that it gave
> no
>> information like individual bus stops, etc that he had built up with
>> Loadstone.
>>
>>
>>
>> Wayfinder only announced the turns and was awkward in use to find even
> the
>>
>> name of the road you have turned onto. It appears to be purely a
> mapping
>> program
>>
>> designed for car users, or sighted pedestrians.
>>
>>
>>
>> Ronan had previously used Mini GPs which is a program that came with
> the
>>
>> Talks premium edition and allowed the labelling of mobile phone cells.
>> Mini
>>
>> GPS can tell you the name of the mobile phone cell in which you are
>> located.
>>
>>
>>
>> However, in Dublin the cells can be quite large (3 or four kilometres
>> across
>> in places). Obviously this only gives you a very approximate location.
> On
>> the Dublin Dart train system the mobile phone cells often include more
>> than
>> one station so it is not a foolproof method of identifying location.
>>
>>
>>
>> Loadstone by contrast gives you a location that can be accurate to
> about 5
>> metres.
>>
>>
>>
>> Saving points to the Point share website
>>
>>
>>
>> Each of us collected many points. The Loadstone-gps website provides a
>> database for sharing points. Over the past few months we have added
>> several
>> hundreds of Irish places to the point share exchange.
>>
>>
>>
>> Coverage of points in Ireland today
>>
>>
>>
>> Before we started using Loadstone, a number of Irish points had been
> added
>> to the exchange. We are pleased to report that we have jointly added
>> several
>> hundred more.
>>
>>
>>
>> We have captured all Dart stations from Bray to Tara Street and all
> Green
>>
>> line Luas stations from Sandyford to Stephens green. We have saved a
> lot
>> of
>> points in the Dun Laoghaire Dalkey area and also in Dublin 4. Ronan
> went
>> hill walking on the Wicklow Way and has saved several points along the
>> route
>> and elsewhere in County Wicklow.
>>
>>
>>
>> In Cork Aedan has added many points for Cork city centre, West cork as
> far
>> as
>>
>> Clonakilty, and in East Cork from Fermoy to Dungarvan and in Waterford
> as
>> far as Lismore, Waterford City, and Dunmore East.
>>
>> Cearbhall has collected most of the stations from Heuston station,
> Dublin
>> to
>>
>> Waterford together with many points along the M50 from Bray to
> Sandyford.
>>
>>
>>
>> Problems we encountered with Loadstone
>>
>>
>>
>> Ronan had problems with the Holux GPS unit not getting a signal but
> has
>> now
>> resolved this problem.
>>
>>
>>
>> Cearbhall found that the interest points marked on the Bray seafront
>> change
>>
>> each time he goes out. The change is small and not important when
> noting
>> buildings alongside the route. However, a series of four rubbish bins
> that
>> create a hazard for a blind pedestrian and are spaced about ten metres
>> apart, are reported by loadstone as being in significantly different
>> locations every time one passes. The accuracy of current technology
> can
>> vary a bit from day to day and we are experiencing typical accuracies
> of
>> about 5 to 10 metres. The Wikipedia article we mentioned above gives
> a
>> very
>> good explanation of the factors that affect location accuracy.
>>
>>
>>
>> We have got to grips with the peculiar way Holux works. You need to
> switch
>>
>> it on in an area with a guaranteed signal and wait about 30 seconds
> before
>>
>> starting loadstone on the mobile phone. If you do this it works fine
>> afterwards. If you start it in an area with a bad signal (for example
> on a
>> crowded train) then it often goes into a strange mode and won't see a
>> satellite signal until re-booted. We find that switching Holux off and
> on
>> again with the switch on the Holux box works fine to get it back
> working
>> again, provided you wait about 60 seconds, and we found that we
> rarely
>> needed to re-boot the phone.
>>
>>
>>
>> Aedan found that in order to get an accurate direction of travel it
> was
>> necessary to walk fairly quickly. There is a feature built into the
> GPS
>> units called Static Navigation that is the cause of this. We
> recommend
>> that
>> the Static Navigation feature be turned off. If you get a unit with
>> Static
>> Navigation turned on, you will either have to walk quickly to get a
>> direction or go through a somewhat complex process to turn this
> feature
>> off.
>>
>>
>>
>> The Loadstone program itself can be a little confusing in its layout
> and
>> we
>> have contributed through the email discussion list to a more logical
>> layout
>> in certain parts of the newer versions.
>>
>>
>>
>> Next steps
>>
>> We have no hesitation in recommending this product or, more correctly,
>> project as a fine example of the blind helping themselves to create a
>> fantastically useful tool to assist orientation. We would encourage
> other
>> visually impaired people in Ireland to try it out. If we work
> together we
>> can build up a rich store of points on the point share exchange.
>>
>>
>>
>> Looking to the future we expect technology to change fairly rapidly.
>> Loadstone-GPS currently works on the second edition Symbian phones.
> As of
>> now it doesn't work on the 3rdrd edition. Hopefully this will change
> over
>> time.
>>
>>
>>
>> We expect that over time GPS technology will rapidly improve and GPS
>> chipsets will be built into mobile phones. Further, it is assumed
> that
>>
>> the new European GPS system Galileo, currently being built, with
> several
>> satellites already put into orbit, will have an accuracy level of
>> centimetres. This would mean that in a few years, if we still have an
>> accessible system like Loadstone-GPS, we will be able to find the
> door,
>> not just the building as at the moment!
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> We are in touch with the Ordnance Survey of Ireland (OSI) to see if
> their
>> maps can be imported into Loadstone. We will also examine the OSI'S
> OWN
>> GPS
>> programs to see if they can be used by a blind person in a laptop or
>> mobile
>> phone.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --- Report ends.
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>>
>> No virus found in this incoming message.
>>
>> Checked by AVG Free Edition.
>>
>> Version: 7.1.410 / Virus Database: 268.16.10/624 - Release Date:
>> 12/01/2007
>>
>>
>>
>
>
>
>
>