“VOICE MAPS” — portable, dedicated GIS for supporting the street navigation and self-dependent movement of the blind

A concept and a prototype application of a system supporting street navigation and independent, outdoor movement of the blind is presented. The system utilises GIS database of geometric network of pedestrian paths in a city and is capable of finding a route from an indicated source to a destination. Subsequently, the system supports movement of the blind along the found route. Information on user´s position and his movement direction is obtained utilising a GPS receiver, a magnetic compass and a gyrocompass. The system communicates with the blind by a simple keyboard and by voice messages generated by a voice synthesizer. First tests of the system operation and performance were carried out by the blind users in two districts of Gdańsk city. The preliminary results of the tests proved the usefulness of the system and justified the necessity of further work on the system development.