For the blind and visually impaired, coming and going as one pleases is a skill earned after years of learning to navigate a world designed to cater to the sighted. But Carnegie Mellon University researchers are exploring ways to supplement the use of canes and guide dogs with an app that can turn a blind person’s GPS-enabled cell phone into something of a seeing-eye phone.
So far the group has mapped sections of Carnegie Mellon University’s campus and the corridors of the School for Blind Children campus. There are plans to team up with the Oakland Business Innovation District, Pittsburgh’s Department of City Planning and CMU’s Traffic 21 transportation project in the future.