[vicsireland] Re: Well positioned in Dublin and Cork with GPS
- From: "Sandberg, Robert" <robert.sandberg@xxxxxxx>
- To: <vicsireland@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 22 Jan 2007 11:15:09 +0100
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
>
>
>
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