Yes, that's true and I think that's what Dan Rossi meant when he referred to
"differential gps." However, the equipment that is being developed has to
take advantage of that improvement in GPS accuracy.
bud Kennedy
-----Original Message-----
From: David Chittenden [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Monday, October 21, 2002 2:27 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [VICUG-L] technology for orientation.
Hi Tom,
Since the military removed the "flaw" which made the accuracy only 30 feet,
isn't the acuracy closer to nine feet now? I thought I read that the
accuracy was three meters.
David Chittenden
----- Original Message -----
From: "Tom Fowle" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, October 21, 2002 8:45 AM
Subject: Re: technology for orientation.
> Message-ID: <[log in to unmask]>
>
> Peter and all,
> the problem gets more complex the more we look into it.
>
> Unfortunately GPS just is not going to be the universal wonder
> gizmo some thought it would be.
>
> In the best circumstances, when clear of structures, the best
> GPS can give you is about 30 feet accuracy. good enough for in
> the block, but not for address finding.
>
> In between big buildings, or not even so big, gps gets
> unreliable quickly. It works better for cars because they're
> more often in the clear than pedestrians are.
>
> Besides 30 feet accuracy is fine for a car with sighted driver.
> It isn't so hot for a bat trying to find a door.
>
> do you want to walk down the center of the street just to get a
> better gps signal?
>
> At Smith-Kettlewell we have some very bright folks working on
> variousl camera based projects to do things like finding signs,
> and analyzing intersections.
>
> These are still pie in the sky projects, and personally I have
> not much faith we'll see usefull results from them in the next
> few years.
>
> computers rarely deal with the real world, reality is just too
> messy for the current primative state of software development. I
> have no signifficant hope for any camera/computer based device
> being able to be of any use at all in orientation/mobility in the
> next 5 years or more.
>
> I have some small hope for one of our other projects which is a
> reader for lcd displays. Although I havn't yet seen it really
> work. I think this is about as good as its going to get any time
> soon.
>
> I still believe a wide spread installation of Talking Signs holds
> out the best promise of providing blind folks with usefull
> orientation information.
>
> In a recent conversation I had with the president and other
> leaders of both Talking Signs INC. and Mitsubishi Precision who
> manufactures the equipment, I told them that now is the time to
> push and push hard to get the system installed on a very wide
> basis. the product is now standardized so that installing it
> fits with much common infrastructure, electrical codes and the
> like. There is still some work to be done teaching a lot of
> people to tune and properly record the signs, but that's comming
> along.
>
> There has been a necessary emphasis on establishing talking
> Signns as a viable orientation system by putting them in
> politically corrrect places like municipal buildings etc. but who
> goes there every day.
>
> Now its time to get them in stores, on transit systems, and on
> street corners all over the place.
>
> If I thought any person carried system stood a chance of doing a
> better job in reality I'd say so.
>
> If I had to bet on such a person carried system without
> infrastructure, I'd take some kind of GPS based system with
> internal maps. the ones presently available don't impress me
> much, after all they're built by the blindness business and
> therefore second rate at best, usually third rate.
>
> there is some small hope that traffic engineers are beginning to
> see that lots of the designs they've been using in the past 20
> years are very pedestrian unfriendly. Perhaps some changes in
> general design towards more pedestrian friendly ness may help a
> bit in some areas.
>
> I've been told for so many years that cutting edge technology
> will help the blind, some day real soon! With a very very few
> exceptions, it just isn't so!
>
> cutting edge technology as brought to the market place is for the
> masses, it is only cheap because they make them by the millions.
>
> I recently heard that the two largest manufacturers of cell
> phones each expect to sell two hundred million units in the next
> year.
>
> And there is not one single accessible cell phone out there for
> us despite promises. Note, I didn't say you can't use some cell
> phones a little bit, I said there is not one which could really
> be called fully accessible.
>
> I also didn't say there is no hope, obviously technology can be
> very usefull indeed, it merely won't solve many of the big
> problems we face overnight.
>
> So far as I can see, from my 20 years as a rehab engineer, we
> will always be chasing the tails of the rest of the world.
>
> Of course, this is my very biased and rather cynical opinion only
> and most surely does not reflect the opinions of anybody else,
> particularly my employeers.
>
> Tom Fowle
>
>
> Net-Tamer V 1.12.0 - Registered
>
>
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>
VICUG-L is the Visually Impaired Computer User Group List.
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[log in to unmask] In the body of the message, simply type
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