A smart-phone-based indoor navigation system that recently went online at the offices of the Sight Center of Northwest Ohio could prove to be a major leap forward in making unfamiliar buildings more accessible to those who are blind or have limited vision.
“People will usually call ahead to figure out where things are in the location that they’re heading, but if you go to a hospital or someplace like that, it can be a pretty big struggle to get where you need to go,” said Stacey Butts, the Sight Center’s executive director.
AudiblEye might be able to change that.
The mobile application, developed by Bowling Green State University graduate Jerrod Witt, combines GPS with building maps and small locational beacons to give users verbal directions that help direct them where they’re going.
The Sight Center, which has invested in Mr. Witt’s company, is home to the first full-scale demonstration site for AudiblEye.
“I think it’s going to have some incredible value,” Ms. Butts said.
Mr. Witt, who studied marketing and entrepreneurship at BGSU, said the idea for AudiblEye came to him as a sophomore when he noticed how difficult Braille signs could be for visually impaired people to find and reach. Finding no other smart phone-based programs that offered indoor guidance, he quickly threw together a proposal and entered an on-campus funding competition. He secured $10,000 from investors.
It hasn’t been easy — the first application quit working and he had to find new developers. But AudiblEye is now ready to market.
The app, available for download in the Apple App Store, is free. Mr. Witt said the system would be sold with a model similar to a security system. The buyer would pay for materials and installation, and sign a maintenance and service contract.
Prices would vary by building size. Beyond time, the biggest cost are the beacons, which retail for around $22 a piece.
In order to equip a building for the application, Mr. Witt develops a scaled-down virtual blueprint of the structure and affixes small Bluetooth beacons on walls and doorways. In addition to offering oral guidance to a specific location, the map includes notations of various points within the building, such as restrooms. Further, the application will give users a description of a room’s layout, helping the user to know what to expect.
Ethan Holliger, who is the Sight Center’s assistive technology specialist and himself blind, said the app has a lot of potential. Though he knows the center well, an unfamiliar location presents challenges.
“Oh my goodness,” he said after a demonstration. “It can give me an idea of what kinds of offices or places are in the building for one thing and which direction to go.”
Mr. Witt, who is originally from Sylvania and still lives there, has yet to sell the product to any buyers, though he does have a contract through the nonprofit Macular Degeneration Support group to demonstrate AudiblEye at conferences this year.
“We’re primarily focusing on helping and assisting the blind and visually impaired community, but this is not just meant for somebody who’s blind,” he said. “It can be used by anybody.”
He’s currently looking for investors.
Contact Tyrel Linkhorn at tlinkhorn@theblade.com or 419-724-6134 or on Twitter @BladeAutoWriter.
First Published March 26, 2016, 4:00 a.m.
