Development of Smartpen-Based Audio/Tactile Transit Station Maps for Travel Planning and Wayfinding
By Kehret, Greg; Miele, Joshua A.; Landau, Steven; CSUN Technology & Persons With Disabilities Conference -- 26th Annual Conference, 2011,Publication Date: 2011
Paper outlines the development of portable, audio/tactile, print/Braille train station maps for use by blind and visually impaired transit riders in the San Francisco area. Development of the maps is part of a project, The Accessible BART Station Maps (ABSM). Inexpensive, off the shelf technologies are used to provide accessible information about the floor plans and surroundings of all 43 stations in the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system. The project is a collaboration between the San Francisco LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired and the Smith Kettlewell Eye Research Institute. The maps are in booklet form and contain robust thermoform floor plans. Each tactile sheet is overprinted with high contrast, large print representations. Audio labeling and additional information about each map feature are provided through use of a LiveScribe Pulse smartpen. The pen contains a computer and a speaker. Through a video camera in the tip of the pen, it can immediately identify what page it is touching, as well as its exact location on that page, for specially printed materials. Thus, it can announce audio labels and additional spoken information for the station maps by tapping the feature with the tip of the pen. The integration of the pen-based audio, tactile, and large-print information offers portability, flexibility, and affordability. The ABSM was undertaken with funding from the Federal Transit Authority (FTA).
Published by: Center on Disabilities at CSUN (Website:http://www.csun.edu/cod/)
This publication is included in the library of the National Rehabilitation Information Center (NARIC), accession number O18336
