At the beginning of March, Microsoft released a new and extremely innovative app designed to assist people with a visual impairment to navigate and understand their surrounding environment. The app is called Microsoft Soundscape and is free to download and use.
Note: At this stage, the app is only available for iPhone users.
Overview
Soundscape uses 3D audio sound to give you a full audio map of what’s around you when you are out and about. It is designed to help you navigate independently and encourage you to be more confident in exploring streets and getting to destinations. The app announces streets and points of interest such as shops, cafes etc. in 3D so that you actually hear the exact direction in which the place is located. To use Soundscape accurately, you need to use a pair of either bone conducting headphones or Apple AirPods. As soon as you put the headphones in your ears and start walking, the app will begin telling you what is in your surrounding area.
Example:
As you walk along a street, you may suddenly hear directly in your right ear, “McDonalds, twenty five metres.” This means that there is a McDonalds restaurant not too far away from you, immediately to your right. Then if you wish, you can actually tell the app to direct you to McDonalds by setting a beacon. This will then give you constant audio information and feedback to let you know if you are heading in the direction of McDonalds or if you are going off course.
Operating the app
Soundscape offers three modes – ‘My Location’ tells you the direction you are facing and the streets and intersections which are closest to you, ‘Around Me’ gives you places of interest which are near you in all four cardinal directions, and ‘Ahead of Me’ provides the names of five places of interest which are nearest to you and directly ahead of you. It is also worth mentioning that the app is fully accessible and that VoiceOver does not have to be enabled in order to use the app. So basically, anyone with a visual impairment can use this app.
First impressions
I was actually a tester for this app when it was under development and have been impressed with it from the very start. I find the app extremely easy to use and another great feature of the app I haven’t mentioned yet is that it is compatible with Apple Watch. This means that I don’t have to keep stopping in the street and taking my iPhone out of my pocket when I want to use the app. I can just tap the relevant button from my Apple Watch which is constantly on my left wrist.
I think my favourite feature of the app is definitely the beacon feature. I used the beacon feature once when it was snowing very heavily and I wanted to get to my local Co-op. I became disorientated, but once I had told the app to direct me to the Co-op, it kept me on track the whole way and always kept me heading in the right direction. In fact, the app only stopped giving me information when I was outside the door of the store. I felt very reassured after this experience I now actually use Soundscape almost every day when I am walking with my guide dog.
Important additional note!!
The app is designed to be used in tandem with your usual mobility aid, such as a cane or guide dog. Do not use this app on its own when you are travelling outside. Also, to use this app, a constant internet connection is required, so a 3 or 4G mobile data plan is essential.
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- Featured in the Karten Autumn 2019 Newsletter
- This article is listed in the following subject areas: Other, Technology