Five hikers, all visually challenged, crossed a mountain range in eastern France last week thanks to an innovative GPS system that developers hope can help millions of people with vision problems.
Armed only with their white canes and the experimental smartphone app - unaccompanied by sighted guides - the group trekked 80 kilometres (50 miles) in six days through fields and forests in the Vosges range near the German border.
Worn in a small pouch over the stomach, the Navi'Rando - named for "randonner", the French word for hiking - warned of bends in the path and turning points at regular intervals.
Developed by a team at Strasbourg University in northeast France, it is part of a growing trend tapping the power of technology to improve life for the visually challenged.
"Point 15, 11 o'clock, 194 metres," it said in a jerky electronic voice, meaning in just under 200 metres (328 feet) turn slightly left in the direction of "11 o'clock".
Volunteers from the French Hiking Federation programmed a precise itinerary for the group beforehand, taking care to note any obstacles on the path.
"The thing that's still difficult is using the cane to locate the exact direction of the trail," said Jean-Claude Heim, who has been visually-challenged since birth.
"You really have to concentrate," smiled the 63-year-old former teacher, a regular hiker though the Vosges was his first trail without a sighted partner. But that didn't stop him enjoying "everything the countryside has to offer: the smells, the sensation of touch, the rain, the sound of the birds."
For Nicolas Linder, 30, the advantage of the device was its boost to self-confidence and autonomy.
"It's fantastic to rediscover your sense of freedom," he said as he swept the path with his white cane. Among visually-challenged people, "95 percent of them have problems leaving home" without assistance, he said.
Transforming attitudes
For Navi'Rando's developers, the Vosges mountain crossing was a major test.
Though not the first researchers to use GPS systems to help the visually-challenged, the Strasbourg system "is the first to use inertial measurement units (IMUs) to refine the GPS signal and regularly recalculate the itinerary," said team member Laurence Rasseneur of the university's sports science department.
http://m.gadgets.ndtv.com/internet/features/visually-challenged-french-hikers-cross-mountains-with-special-gps-710525
Armed only with their white canes and the experimental smartphone app - unaccompanied by sighted guides - the group trekked 80 kilometres (50 miles) in six days through fields and forests in the Vosges range near the German border.
Worn in a small pouch over the stomach, the Navi'Rando - named for "randonner", the French word for hiking - warned of bends in the path and turning points at regular intervals.
Developed by a team at Strasbourg University in northeast France, it is part of a growing trend tapping the power of technology to improve life for the visually challenged.
"Point 15, 11 o'clock, 194 metres," it said in a jerky electronic voice, meaning in just under 200 metres (328 feet) turn slightly left in the direction of "11 o'clock".
Volunteers from the French Hiking Federation programmed a precise itinerary for the group beforehand, taking care to note any obstacles on the path.
"The thing that's still difficult is using the cane to locate the exact direction of the trail," said Jean-Claude Heim, who has been visually-challenged since birth.
"You really have to concentrate," smiled the 63-year-old former teacher, a regular hiker though the Vosges was his first trail without a sighted partner. But that didn't stop him enjoying "everything the countryside has to offer: the smells, the sensation of touch, the rain, the sound of the birds."
For Nicolas Linder, 30, the advantage of the device was its boost to self-confidence and autonomy.
"It's fantastic to rediscover your sense of freedom," he said as he swept the path with his white cane. Among visually-challenged people, "95 percent of them have problems leaving home" without assistance, he said.
Transforming attitudes
For Navi'Rando's developers, the Vosges mountain crossing was a major test.
Though not the first researchers to use GPS systems to help the visually-challenged, the Strasbourg system "is the first to use inertial measurement units (IMUs) to refine the GPS signal and regularly recalculate the itinerary," said team member Laurence Rasseneur of the university's sports science department.
http://m.gadgets.ndtv.com/internet/features/visually-challenged-french-hikers-cross-mountains-with-special-gps-710525