Lawrence Euteneier
Kingston Ontario, Canada
In august my wife, Kids and I set off for Desert Lake, located just north of Kingston Ontario, for a week of camping and sea trials of the Blind Fishing Porta-Boat. I was more than just a bit excited about this set of trials as it was to involve a pre-release version of the new Breeze talking GPS system HumanWare kindly agreed to provide me ahead of their expected public release later that fall.
We set up camp at Desert Lake Family Resort and Bret and Sally Coleman, owners and operators of the facility, made sure we were ideally situated (i.e. a playground for the kids 20 meters in front of our site, and the docs about the same distance behind). The kids were happy and so was I. The only thing working against us was the continuously variable weather which saw thunder storms rolling through daily.
Having received the Breeze the day prior to our departure, I commenced my familiarization with the unit by recording various landmarks and routes around the campground. Creation of landmarks and routes is quite simple and involves only minimal key strokes. The unit itself is also leaps and bounds ahead of HumanWare's Trekker with respect to usability in that everything is now contained within one reasonably sized package with large well defined keys.
My guide dog Maestro introduced a variable to the trials that took me several days to sort out. As those of you who use guide dogs can appreciate, once a dog knows a route, he/she can pretty much follow it without a lot of input from the handler. Under these conditions, the Breeze's main benefit was confirming where I was along the route by announcing the various landmarks I had recorded while creating the initial route I walked with my wife and kids which started at the trailer and ended at the forest bordering the campground. Later that day I repeated the same route on my own, but when I went to back-track, Maestro, having also committed to memory our initial route, took a different road back to the trailer with out my knowledge. In spite of warnings coming from the Breeze, I remained oblivious to the fact that we had merged on to a second road that also went through the campground and rejoined our initial road just prior to our camper.
When Maestro chose the fork to the right instead of following the road back the way we had come, Breeze announced, "turn at 8: o'clock". Thinking that this was an anomaly, I continued forward where upon Breeze then announce, "turn at 6: o'clock". I then turned around with Maestro, walked back up the road about 20 paces, turned around again, at which point Maestro then decided to follow our original route and all was then good with the Breeze. Not having realized that there was this alternative fork to the right in the road, I wrote the entire episode off as an anomaly. The next day it happened again, only this time I kept walking thinking that the Breeze will eventually correct itself. It instead began giving me messages such as, "turn back to return to the route", which is the message it's designed to give once you have strayed more than 50 meters from your original pre-recorded route. Still thinking the device was suffering from some sort of internal anomaly, I kept walking down the wrong road where upon the road merged back on to the original road at which time the Breeze began reporting messages such as, "continue straight, next instruction in 22 meters". I was able to return to the trailer without further incident, but my faith in the new Breeze had been seriously undermined.
The third time I experienced the return journey anomaly, I was able to get to the bottom of my dog's treachery by retracing our route back the way we had come after the Breeze began announcing that I needed to turn back. By feeling the grassy edge along the side of the road with my foot I was able to find the point where the two roads forked. If it hadn't been for the Breeze, I never would have known I was following two different routes. With my faith in the Breeze restored and with the weather showing signs of clearing up, I immediately set to work assembling the Blind Fishing Porta-Boat so I could commence my trials on the water.
I learned two key lessons from my preliminary ground trials of the Breeze. One, the Breeze won't necessarily announce the instant you depart from a pre-recorded route, and two, finding out exactly where you departed from the route isn't possible. This isn't so much a flaw in the Breeze as it is a limitation of the public's level of access to GPs data. Other learnings gained from my sea trials of the Breeze on the water and in open spaces follow.
Using the Breeze on the water proved quite reliable. Once I had created my landmarks with my wife and kids along for the ride I was able to navigate independently between them in straight lines much as I had with the Trekker. Since the electric motor on my boat has a top speed of about 7 kph, (a good walking pace), I had little difficulty maintaining the minimum speed required to generate useful GPS data.
Care still needed to be taken to ensure that straight line navigation between any two landmarks on the water could be undertaken without encountering obstacles such as a point of land or a floating raft that intersects the track. Avoiding such obstacles is made somewhat possible with the use of talking underwater depth sonar and the use of forward-looking sonar on the bow such as a Mini Guide or BAT Sonar.
Navigating on the water by pre-recorded route is challenging in that one isn't provided with a lot of detailed directions on how to find a point on the route, never mind navigate it. The Breeze is definitely built for walkers of sidewalks and paths in this regard.
Backtracking on the water using the back-track feature never seemed like a necessary option given that water allows you to pretty much travel in straight lines to where ever you want to go.
When following a pre-recorded route, Breeze does eliminate many of the minor curves and turn-arounds one makes when originally recording a route so one isn't forced to follow the original route exactly. It seems to smoothen out the rough parts by drawing straight lines where you may have previously zigged or zagged.
Breeze does announce the Cardinal compass direction one should take when commencing a route. This is useful even though the Breeze can only give you a cardinal compass heading after you start moving since GPS can only determine your compass direction after calculating a number of concurrent GPS positions. When on the water, having a talking or tactile compass at hand is still a good idea to keep from heading off in the wrong direction when resuming navigation after a pause. Boats do have a tendency of drifting about.
Recorded landmarks are still only accurate within a range of three meters at best, which means you can be three meters to either the left or the right of a landmark, and since you aren't told in which direction the landmark resides in relation to your current position, the accuracy is in reality about six meters or 20 feet. This still presents a sizable target area that one needs to explore using means other than the Breeze, and necessitates creating your landmarks for things such as docks, rafts, buoys, points of land, etc. well away from the point of interest itself if you want to avoid collisions with the element in question.
Over-all I'd give the Breeze pretty high marks for its functionality and usability. It seems pretty ruggedized and GPS reception is quick and accurate. Humanware deserves full points for their taking a clean start in developing this product. It's obvious they have learned much from Trekker versions one and two, and at the same time, they weren't afraid to try out a number of radically new concepts.
Until the U.S. military decides to allow pedestrians and the rest of the world to access complete GPS data, us folks with sight disabilities will be obliged to make due with GPS systems that can assist us in navigating from point A to B, but can't get us precisely to the "door", or in my case, the dock. Until then, people without functional sight will still need to orient themselves independently. Talking GPS will continue to serve as a tool for exploring new environments.
Having said that, without talking GPS my ability to navigate independently on the water would be sharply curtailed. Magnetic compass headings have no way of compensating for drift, which means a compass may say your heading north-east and it will be right, but it won't factor into your course the sideways drift caused from wind or current.
I like the Breeze. It fits nicely into the pocket of my personal flotation device along side my Columbia talking compass, and to the outside observer, it would appear no more out of place on my boat then my hand-held VHF radio. All three devices tuck nicely into the front pockets of my PDF and can be attached by their lanyards to the rings. Definitely a workable solution for the recreational fisher.
From Sheila Styron,
President, Guide Dog Users, Inc. :
For me, the most positive aspect of my blindness has always been the dignity, safety and freedom of mobility working with a guide dog provides. But that was before Trekker.
I didn’t hear about Trekker when it first came out, but by the summer of 2004, it was definitely on my radar scope, and after ordering Trekker at the ACB convention, I could hardly wait for this exciting technological life improving device to arrive in the mail.
Trekker allowed me to move halfway across the United States and in combination with my guide dog, discover and learn a whole new city, much more quickly and independently than I would have thought possible previously.
As a totally blind individual, I occasionally need to ask some questions when traveling, but with Trekker, I can always figure out where I am and never have to fear becoming truly lost anywhere.
Whether exploring my own neighborhood, where the street layout is quite irregular to say the least, or striking out in a strange city on business with my guide dog, Trekker is now an integral part of my life, and I can’t imagine ever going anywhere without it.
Sheila Styron,
President,
Guide Dog Users, Inc.
From: Lawrence Euteneier
Senior Policy Advisor, Business Financing Policy,
Industry Canada.
As a manager with the federal government, I've waited a long time for a tool that could meet my daily operational requirements. From micro-cassettes to digital assistants, I've tried them all, including the PACMate. Nothing comes close to the new Maestro and Trekker. These technologies have excited me like no other have since I acquired my first talking laptop computer in 1989.
The two things that stand out the most as ground-breaking in intuitive design and usability are the ergonomic keypad and the user interfaces. Everything is laid out using common MS key strokes and tactile key designs that just make sense. And when you select an application, the commands are simple and intuitive from one application to another—and they all perform rock-solidly.
I've personally witnessed Visuaide, now Humanware Canada, develop their user-centred design over the past dozen years, and they have hit the nail bang on with this one. There's nothing else out there that comes close to the performance of the Maestro/Trekker package.
Within the first week of receiving the device, it was integrated into my daily personal and professional life. I carry it everywhere, and it looks darn good too. The packaging is first rate and simply says "quality". If the last set of upgrades are anything to go by, the next release of Maestro/Trekker will no doubt place this technology even further ahead of its competition.
Most important for me is that the Maestro/Trekker bundle is technology that's useful, convenient and reliable. The great thing is that not only do I now have a tool that levels the playing field, it gives me a competitive advantage.
Lawrence Euteneier
Senior Policy Advisor, Business Financing Policy,
Industry Canada.
From: Alan Paganelli
Nevada, U.S.A.
I have truthfully lost count of the people who have written to me to say how much their Trekkers have meant in their lives. I certainly am no salesmen and never professed to be one either. The Maestro with trekker option doesn't need one. It sells it's self. I only tell people about it.
I believe that just as the lap-top computer is replacing the desk-top computer, the PDA will eventually replace the lap-top as the computer of choice for both sighted and blind users. This was the biggest reason why I told the people at Leader Dogs for the Blind when Andre showed the Trekker to me last August here in Las Vegas that I wanted to get in on the ground floor.
As the cell phone, and the computer converge with the PDA and as wireless systems continue to grow, the world stands poised on the brink of a massive explosion the world has never seen. I believe the tip of the iceberg has only been seen. This is why I'm so excited about helping. I believe with all my heart that between the GPS and the Maestro with it's continuing list of useful programs that HumanWare will lead the pack as the leader. I think that at some point down the road that the stand alone version will be fazed out because the Maestro can do it all.
As a blind person, and as a man, I think this is the way I can make a difference in the world. Changing the lives of others has to be one of the greatest things we can do. By the time my friend Jeff left here, he was already thinking of ways Maestro could change his life and this was from a man who has no computer and didn't think he needed one.
He now knows the reverse is true. He wanted to get assistance with home living skills but has decided now that he needs a Trekker first. "I can't go for training in cooking if I can't even find the place" he told me and this only after being taken on a few walks. That's amazing I think.
Alan Paganelli
Nevada, U.S.A.
From: Tracy Lloyd, U.K.
I want to let those involved with the development of the Bluetooth Trekker know how very pleased I am with the product.
I've found the new Bluetooth Trekker absolutely marvellous, and I've only had it for a few days now! It's so very stable, and does really well with acquiring a GPS signal very quickly. It's also done really well on my bus travels, and has hardly lost coverage at all.
I've upgraded from the 3950, so I'm totally amazed at how things have moved on in respect of the keyboard input and the PDA itself. Whoever thought of the idea to put those nice buttons on the overlay on the screen should be congratulated, it's quite ingenious, and has made inputting data and general usability just so much better than with the 3950.
Once again, many thanks for such a great product, and keep up the good work!
Tracy Lloyd, U.K.
From: Doug Wakefield,
Information Technology Accessibility Specialist
My wife and I love to walk and to try different routes, but we don't have talking signs here, and in the suburbs it’s not always easy to find another pedestrian to tell you what street you're on. With Trekker we never get lost. So we go exploring in areas we probably wouldn't otherwise. My wife says it's like having your own talking signs.
You always know where you are. That means you have one less thing to worry about. Yet, it's non-intrusive. It talks to you but you're not required to answer back.
With the off-line browsing feature, I can virtually tour an area before travelling it. If I'm going to run into an intersection with seven different streets, I want to know about it beforehand. Trekker lets me plan my route in advance.
I love it, pure and simple… I don't usually get this high on a product, but Trekker really deserves it. It's tremendous!
Doug Wakefield
Information Technology Accessibility Specialist
From: Andre Dubois,
Technical Advisor
Before I leave on a trip, I download the map for my destination city from the HumanWare web site. Then, once I'm comfortably settled on the plane, I can start exploring the city using the "Browsing Offline" mode.
Trekker points out attractions near my hotel - restaurants, stores, museums, and so on. I can save talking notes about points of interest - for example, a reminder about a restaurant someone really liked.
Evenings before business appointments, I often have a little free time to explore the city with my Trekker. Once I'm on the sidewalk, cane in hand, the magic of GPS goes to work. As I walk along, Trekker tells me about points of interest on the way, and the name of streets and intersections.
I no longer have to stop people to ask where such-and-such a place is. Using the Where Am I feature, I can find out my position at any time, the name of the street I'm on, and the approximate address.
In the morning, I check my Trekker to learn the route to my appointments. With the help of instructions obtained beforehand, I visualize my route in "Browsing Offline" mode. It's like using a talking map.
Once I leave the hotel, my Trekker tells me how many streets I still have to cross before the intersection where I need to turn right. If I try to turn onto a dead end, Trekker says 'Can't go that way.'
HumanWare's Trekker has truly revolutionized my travel independence - around town and on the road.
Andre Dubois
Technical Advisor
