Alyssa Rosenzwieg: Street Sound: Navigate with your ears

Alyssa Rosenzweig is a senior at the University of Pennsylvania pursuing a degree in Computer and Cognitive Science at the School of Engineering and Applied Science, and a Psychology degree at the School of Arts and Sciences. She worked closely with Dr. Roberto Manduchi in the Assistive Technology Lab at the University of California, Santa Cruz designing a Google Map web application that is accessible to the visually impaired. With the use of common and inexpensive items (internet connection, Firefox web browser with FireVox text-to-speech plug-in, audio output and, optionally, a tablet pen), the user can interact with the map and extract street information using only sound.

When the user follows a street on the map using a mouse or other pointing device (e.g. tablet pen) street names, intersections and nearby venues are verbalized. If the user deviates from the road, a beep notification sounds. These features allow the user to follow the street and become familiar with the surrounding area without sight. The application aims to overcome the problems with static tactile maps and verbal descriptions of an unfamiliar area. This is goal is further obtained by the digital nature of the system because any area can be focused upon and explored without special, expensive equipment. If the user desires, a pen tablet can be used instead of a mouse because we feel that it is a more natural interface for the visually impaired. Future system setups may include a multi-touch screen, cursor guidance to a specified location on the map and audio directions between locations.