[vicsireland] Fw: Free satnav developed for the blind.

From: "Tony Sweeney" <tonysweeney1@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: "vics" <vicsireland@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sun, 16 Nov 2008 16:34:51 -0000
Hi, 

I forward the below from the access-uk list re Loadstone. 

Trust that we will see/hear that software demoed Saturday in Cork! 

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Derek Hornby" <derek.hornby_uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Sunday, November 16, 2008 5:14 PM
Subject: [access-uk] Free satnav developed for the blind.


> Hi All
> The following appeared in The Sunday Times 16 November 2008
> 
> 
> Free satnav developed for the blind.
> By Mark Macaskill
> 
> A BLIND man has developed a free satellite navigation system for the
> visually impaired that can guide them around any city in Britain by
> giving them instructions on their mobile phone, writes Mark
> Macaskill.
> 
> The technology, similar to that used by in-car satnav devices, can be
> used to locate buildings, bus stops, tube stations, cashpoints and
> taxi ranks as well as navigating streets.
> 
> Monty Lilburn, 33, from Glasgow, who is blind, created the mapping
> software as an alternative to conventional GPS devices.
> 
> His system, Loadstone, can be downloaded free of charge from the
> internet and has won plaudits from Nokia, the mobile phone company,
> and the Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB).
> 
> Blind and partially sighted people are able to navigate by wearing a
> GPS transmitter, roughly the size of a matchbox, which pinpoints
> their position and communicates with the mobile phone via Bluetooth
> radio technology.
> 
> When the co-ordinates or postcode of the desired destination are
> entered, the phone "speaks" directions to the user.Instructions are
> given, including the distance needed to travel before taking a turn,
> and a series of beeps indicates when the destination has been reached.
> 
> The system uses information from sources such as Traveline, a
> partnership of transport operators and local authorities, which
> provided GPS co-ordinates for every bus stop, tube station and ferry
> terminal in Britain.
> 
> However, the software will not replace a guide dog or a white stick,
> because it is unable to detect obstacles.
> 
> The system, which is used in conjunction with the new generation of
> digital phone, is expected to become hugely popular.
> 
> There are 2m people in Britain who are visually impaired and some 37m
> worldwide.
> 
> Lilburn's invention will be officially unveiled in Edinburgh next
> week as part of an international technology seminar.
> 
> "It gives people much greater freedom and best of all it's relatively
> inexpensive," says Lilburn. "When you're in a taxi, for example, you
> can be confident that you're being taken on the shortest route."
> 
> Alison Long, of the RNIB, said: "This software goes a long way to
> providing some people with the independence they so desperately want.
> The fact that it's been developed by blind people for blind people
> makes it particularly special."
> 
> Mark Palmer, a consultant with User Vision, an Edinburgh-based IT
> consultancy, which will showcase Lilburn's technology, said: "This
> has the potential to change a blind person's life."
> 
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[vicsireland] Fw: Free satnav developed for the blind.

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