Wayfindr digital system that since 2014 allows visually impaired users to navigate the underground subway of London using sound, wishes to develop its technology around the world.
The technologists of this just have published their plans for extension of using the standard system, which can guide someone by sound alone, using wireless technology.
The Wayfindr is the result of a combinationwork between one forum for young people στο Royal London Society for Blind People (RLSB) και στο Ustwo. Η τεχνολογία αποτελείται από διάσπαρτους Bluetooth φάρους γύρω από διάφορες περιοχές μίας διαδρομής που συγχρονίζονται με μία εφαρμογή σε ένα smartphone. Οι χρήστες μπορούν να ακούν οδηγίες είτε με ειδικά ακουστικά είτε με το μεγάφωνο του smartphone, και όταν περνούν από τους φάρους να λαμβάνουν συγκεκριμένες ηχητικές οδηγίες που θα τους λένε πού βρίσκονται και προς τα που να πάνε. Από το 2014, το ψηφιακό σύστημα πλοήγησης έχει δοκιμαστεί στους σταθμούς μετρό Pimlico και Euston στο Λονδίνο, καθώς και στο Σίδνεϋ της Australias.
Mr. Kevin Dunning, London Underground Manager, reported that there are about 70 with 80 Bluetooth beacons at both Euston and Pimlico stations, that he is a supporter of the new technology and that he envisions how Wayfindr could develop across the underground network of London in the future.
And while Wayfindr is currently limited to underground spaces, manufacturers want to start developing it in other interiors, such as shopping centers and hospitals, as the community of people who are interested in implementing it in their countries has grown.
We hope to come to Greece at some point, but by then, if you go to the London Underground and see people with the classic crowd of blind people having a smartphone in front of them, do not suspect that they are mocking you. They do not represent visually impaired people, but they just hear Wayfindr's directional instructions.
