To: Patrick Kallewaard >Internet:blind-l@UAFSYSB.UARK.EDU;
nfb-rd@nfbcal.org
Hello, Patrick:
By this time, Sunday, February 20, 1994, I have read a variety of
messages regarding this subject, including your note to me. I
would like to offer these thoughts, if I may.
First, I find myself wondering why people interested in developing
navigational aids for the blind focus on creating elaborate systems
requiring significant installation of equipment in the general
environment. Although I am willing to grant the possibility that
such systems MAY (and I use the word advisedly) prove helpful in
unfamiliar surroundings, how many systems will really be installed
around the world so as to prove truly helpful to the blind
traveler? In the end, there can be no substitute for good travel
skills. One simply cannot be assured that a navigational aid will
be available when it is needed.
Secondly, many "experts" in the field of work with the blind (I am
most familiar with those in the United States) teach "route" travel
and fail to ingender the ability in their students to feel
confident in unfamiliar surroundings. I do not know what kind of
training is provided to blind people in Ireland. However, your
point that it takes blind students a few months to become
comfortable with the college campus tells me that the training may
not be all that great. Here in the state of Minnesota, where we
operate a progressive training center for the blind, our graduates
only take a few days to feel comfortable with a fairly large
university campus here in Minneapolis. AND WE EXPECT THESE
STUDENTS TO LEARN THE CAMPUS WITHOUT ASSISTANCE FROM A
"PROFESSIONAL." So, the question for blind people in Ireland is:
does the solution lie in better technology or in better training?
Why doesn't somebody develop some simple yet helpful technology
such as a non-magnetic compass that will not only enable me to
determine true north but which will also allow me to follow a
straight line without having to depend on an external output
source. There is a gadget I could really use, and it wouldn't cost
all that much either.
I am extremely uncomfortable and concerned about proposals which
seek to require substantial modification of the environment (i.e.,
audible beacons, etc.) simply to make the environment easier for
blind people to travel in. Although I am aware that the real world
is full of safety hazards, I do not believe that a lot of
technology will eliminate those hazards or make it less likely that
a blind person will inadvertently fall into a hole that is not
easily detected with the cane.
I am not saying that I abhore all technological devices that seek
to improve our ability to travel independently. Your point about
the blind girl in the railway station needing to ask a passerby to
assist her to the appropriate train is well taken, but I feel
constrained to point out that blind people are not the only
travelers who seek assistance from people who happen to be in the
immediate vicinity. Suppose, in a railway station, there are
navigational aids that tell me the number of each track and perhaps
even what train I happen to be standing near. I still have to know
what train I need to board and what track it happens to be on.
Today, it is most efficient for me to ask a ticket agent for this
information with a bit of instruction solicited from someone who
happens to be going in my general direction. In other words, even
with the best technology, one does need to know how to ask for
help. This is true for everyone, blind or sighted.
I am impressed by your recognition that any navigational system
developed must be inexpensive. Perhaps what you need is for more
of us to make specific suggestions about what we DO want and not
ramble on for as long as I have about what we do NOT want<grin>.
In this context, the non-magnetic compas might be worth
considering. Also, how about a system which provides a virtual map
that can be examined by the blind traveler BEFORE he or she sets
out for a specific destination. If, say, there existed a good
detailed street map of a particular city, it would be extremely
helpful to learn the names of various intersections and the order
in which they will appear assuming that the blind traveler walks in
a certain direction. Of course, these maps should NOT be designed
solely for the blind as their cost would then become prohibitive.
Well, that's it for now. I welcome your thoughts on what I have
said.
Cordially,
Curtis Chong
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