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Date: | Thu, 31 May 2012 14:55:34 -0700 |
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I agree that indoor navigation is as potentially useful for sighted
people as for the blind. I've been in lots of large facilities--like
airports, hospitals, college campuses, shopping centers, even office
buildings and apartment complexes--with sighted people, and they're as
lost and confused as I am, so I have no doubt many would be happy to
have a cell phone app that guides them to their destinations.
I wouldn't mind if the app didn't include a map of my building as long
as I could program my own location. This would make learning a new place
easier since I could add each new destination as I went.
Based on my experience with cell phones in general, however, I think the
real problem with this concept is that cell signals are often unreliable
indoors. My job involves going to lots of different places, and I often
send or receive calls or use other features/apps while I'm wherever I
am. I notice that I have lots of problems with the phone if I'm too
close to electronic equipment or if there's just a lot of wiring around.
Even things like photocopiers and cash registers can seriously get in
the way. Also, sometimes I have problems if walls are too thick or thin
or if I'm in the bend of a hallway within another bend of a hallway,
etc. I suspect an app like this will work better in some places than
others, and I suspect it'll work least well in the places we'd want it
to work the most.
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