Looking for Blindsquare App for iPhone Demonstration

By Adam, 8 October, 2012

Forum
iOS and iPadOS
Trying to find a podcast that provides a comprehensive "walk thru" on the Blind Square app for iPhone. Can anyone provide a link to such a podcast? If not, I would suggest to those who produce such demonstration podcasts create one on Blind Square. Thanks for the help and considering my suggestion.

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Comments

By Siobhan on Monday, October 22, 2012 - 19:45

Hi Adam. Isn't there one done by a British man on here? if not, I wonder if audio boo might have something? I didn't look because to be blunt, I'm not paying some out of the part pricetag for something like that. Hope you do find what you're looking for.

By Michael Hansen on Monday, October 22, 2012 - 19:45

Member of the AppleVis Editorial Team
Hi Adam, Like you, I too would like to see a good walk-through of Blind Square on the site. The reason a demonstration of the Blind Square app has not been done by the AppleVis Editorial Team yet is that we have nobody in a position to do a comprehensive walk-through of the app. It is our philosophy that a demonstration of such an app needs to be thorough, and the primary podcasters from the team (AnonyMouse, Scott Davert, and myself) do not use Blind Square. Thus, it would be far better if someone who actually uses the app on a daily basis were to record and submit such a podcast. (If anyone out there wants to do this, we'd love to give it a listen!) Regards, Michael Hansen AppleVis Editorial Team

By AnonyMouse on Monday, October 22, 2012 - 19:45

Member of the AppleVis Editorial Team
Adam, Yes, at this time we do not have a podcast here on AppleVis that review and goes through the BlindSquare. So if anyone has the time or resources that wouldn't mind sharing it with us. We would gratefully would love to post it right here on this site. There are several ways to do this. They can upload it through the submission process or contact us and we can work out a way to get that podcast up to AppleVis for everyone to listen. I know this podcast would be greatly appreciated. So in the meanwhile, Adam. We do our best to provide in what we can in our spare time. Especially, for those that volunteer their time in submitting their podcast for us to post. So if we get the time or if someone step forward on the podcast. You can be sure you will find out about it here on AppleVis. Have a great day.

By Adam on Monday, October 22, 2012 - 19:45

I appreciate receiving these replies to my post. Siobhan: You may be talking about David Woodbridge who produces and presents great podcasts on the iPhone & other Apple products. In fact i just listened to one he did about a recent upgrade to Apple TV. It was (as always) very helpful. Mike & Tom: I hear what you are both saying. Hopefully someone who has the knowledge, time & resources will create & submit a podcast on Blind Square in the near future. I haven't heard much about the app & since it's a bit pricey I want to make sure it's worth the money before I proceed. Again thanks to everyone at the Applevis team for creating and maintaining a great website & resource for all of us. I don't know what I'd do without all the wonderful information provided here.

By Sandra on Monday, October 22, 2012 - 19:45

Hi Adam, I won't be able to record a podcast on BlindSquare, but I use it and I think I know it reasonably well. What is it that you hope to learn in a podcast? If you let me know what questions you have, maybe I could answer some of them.

By Adam on Monday, October 22, 2012 - 19:45

Hi Sandra: Thanks for your offer. I'm really looking for a comprehensive tutorial/podcast on using Blind Square. However here are some key items i'm interested in learning... Is the app "voice over" & user friendly? What does the interface "look" like? Is the information reliable? Will the app identify the name of a street as a person approaches it? Where does the app get its information from? Once the app is purchased, is there additional costs for map (if there are maps) upgrades? Will the app work inside a building? If so, how does that work? Does the app provide for "POI's"? Does the app have a "where am I" feature? Can the app be programmed with favorite routes that can be saved & used again? Is it necessary to run additional apps (i.e. Look Around, Ariadne GPS, etc.) with Blind Square to get all the necessary navigation tools to get around an area or will the Blind Square app address a traveler's needs? If you're familiar with Humanware's Trekker Breeze, does the Blind Square app have most of or similar features without having to carry around a 2nd piece of hardware? What quirks, bugs, issues have you run into while using the app? Are you using the app with IOS6 & how well does it work with the new operating system? As you can tell I have lots of questions. Again i appreciate your assistance and look forward to receiving your insight and advice. Thanks, Adam

By Sandra on Monday, October 22, 2012 - 19:45

Hi Adam, Is the app "voice over" & user friendly? As it has been developed for blind and VI users, it of course is. What does the interface "look" like? There is a row of buttons at the top that open different menus. In the top right corner, below these buttons is a picker that lets you select a radius. You will hear new points within the set radius while you walk. Most part of the screen is taken up by checkboxes you can check or uncheck to influence what categories of places you'd like to hear while you walk i.e. food, culture, education etc. Is the information reliable? Depends, see below. Will the app identify the name of a street as a person approaches it? It will inform you of street intersections when you approach them. It will not describe them and tell you where the streets lead, but it'll announce all streets of the intersection. Where does the app get its information from? The info about places is from FourSquare. So if you want to know if there is lots of info where you are, just get the FourSquare app and look what places have been entered into FourSquare. The info about street intersections is from Open Street Map. So its quality will depend on how well your area has been mapped by volunteers. Once the app is purchased, is there additional costs for map (if there are maps) upgrades? No, because the map info comes from free sources. Will the app work inside a building? As well or as badly as other GPS apps on the iPhone do, since it uses the iPhones AGPS capabilities, as these other apps do, too. Does the app provide for "POI's"? See above. Note that you need a data plan to receive pois while you're on your way. Does the app have a "where am I" feature? Yes. Can the app be programmed with favorite routes that can be saved & used again? Not yet, although the developer plans to add this feature at some point. See the Applevis entry on BlindSquare on this site, the dev has actively participated in the discussion. Is it necessary to run additional apps (i.e. Look Around, Ariadne GPS, etc.) with Blind Square to get all the necessary navigation tools to get around an area or will the Blind Square app address a traveler's needs? Depends on the needs and where you want to use it. I like it a lot better than Sendero Look around, because the way it provides info is much quicker. If your area is well mapped in open Street Map, then you probably won't need Ariadne. If it's not, then you might want to use Ariadne, too, because it uses google maps so you get different info from Ariadne. If you're familiar with Humanware's Trekker Breeze, does the Blind Square app have most of or similar features without having to carry around a 2nd piece of hardware? I have never used a Trekker. What quirks, bugs, issues have you run into while using the app? I find it can be a little slow on my iPhone 4. Are you using the app with IOS6 & how well does it work with the new operating system? I haven't encountered any problems. BlindSquare is not so much a navigation app, as it doesn't tel you were to go. I consider it a pair of eyes, because it tells me what's around you. I can also track a place. This means that BlindSquare will keep announcing the direction and distance of a tracked place until I turn tracking for this place off. BlindSquare uses its own speech synthesizer. Many people don't like this. However, this means that it will talk automatically while you walk, without you having to touch the screen to get the info you need. I like it, because I have to touch the screen less often than with other GPS apps. I would not recommend it for rural areas, as there may not be enough poi on FourSquare to make it useful, but then I'm in Europe and the Situation elsewhere might be different. Just get FourSquare and have a look at what places around you are on FourSquare. However, for urban areas I find it's very useful. BlindSquare can also run in the background, so you could use another app to give you walking directions and have blindsquare run in the background to tell you where you are and what intersections you are approaching. I haven't doen this myself yet. Check out the BlindSquare entry on Applevis and the BlindSquare website which also has a help section.

By Bahzad on Monday, October 22, 2012 - 19:45

I haven't used a Trekker Breeze, but I'm familiar with the Trekker Maestro, since I used to own one. The earlier version of Trekker could be used with an external speaker, and it requires a satellite receiver for it to function. Though the iPhone works with external speakers, I normally just listen to the auditory feedback through the built-in speaker on my phone. Unless you will be attaching your phone to a belt or using it with headphones, BlindSquare does not require any hardware.

By ilkkapirttimaa on Monday, October 22, 2012 - 19:45

Hello! I'm developer behind blindsquare and I would like to start thanking all of BlindSquare users. Since launch we have made 3 big upgrades and 4th is under it's way. It's developed just for you and based on your needs. I have done lot of research, being a guide for blind people and learning how the app works and how it could be improved. I have also got feedback from AppleVis site, twitter, blindsquare website (http://blindsquare.com). All releases has had some major improvements based on feedback and research. Sandra gave nice walkthrough about some features of the app. Like Sandra mentions, this is an app you just start and let it speak for you so it's super easy to use also persons that are not so familiar with smartphones. It has lot of intelligence "under the hood". Here is few examples: - BS notices if you are walking or riding a bus. If you are walking, street crossings are tracked and reported about 25 meters before crossing. If you are riding a bus, it reports crossings when bus is making a turn or just before. This way you can keep track where you are at - When you are walking, BS starts pedometer automatically and reports distance and duration now and then. If you jump into bus, it notices it and reports your total walking distance and duration and stops pedometer. It is automatically started when you jump out. When you get near your home, work, or some other places you have added to your own places, it reports pedometer readings, so you get "end report" even if it was not time to report. Please ask what you would like to hear. If somebody of you would like to learn all tricks of BS and later on make a podcast of BS, I will provide support and free apps to your friends or something else we can figure out. If you are interested, please contact support@blindsquare.com.