[Mt-blind] GPS for the Blind

[Heather Stone]

The top middle part of the Trekker unit consists of 4
rows of 3 small circular buttons & works just like a
phone pad. You cycle thru one # & 3 letters per button
when using the keys to spell out destination names,
streets, etc. A validation key locks in each # &
letter you choose. Or you can use the toggle key to
use the buttons to input in Braille. This feature is
sort of like a Braille N Speak - it is not a
refreshable Braille display.  You can also do a
partial search by street name, city &/or category. You
just need to press another button to hear the address,
phone #, etc for a destination or you can add in the
information yourself, like for stores that have moved,
etc. It is true that these devices do come with an
instruction manual but for some it is easier to
understand than for others. The Missoula based O+M
felt the instructions for Trekker were written in
"German" & when I took it on to learn it, I found
several steps about entering information were lacking
- like it was assumed the user would know how to do
it. At the Leader Dog training, they covered
everything in 3 days that it had taken me 3 months to
figure out how to do & then the last 2 days I learned
a lot more things about Trekker & several shortcuts.
As with any training, once you get home, you need to
constantly practice using it fairly often so that it
becomes natural. Jim Marks, you & I both know Jeff
Senge. He was in my Trekker class & had come to it
because he has had so many visually impaired/blind
college students come thru his office all excited
about their GPS but after a few weeks, they are always
so frustrated with it because the instructions did not
help much with getting the user efficiently using the
software/device. He was at the CSUN technology fair &
hearing the vendors like they always do - promoting
the GPS's like you just turn them on & go & then he
heard Harold's Abraham's Leader Dogs presentation for
their training & after completing it himself, he was
very impressed with it. Perhaps, you should talk
further with him about this topic.
--- Jim Marks <blind.grizzly at gmail.com> wrote:

> Very cool!  Does the Trekker come with a keyboard of
> some sort?  I wonder
> how you type information to generate the information
> with the Trekker.
> 
> The Trekker Breeze, which was just released this
> spring, may be a good
> option for some.  It's sort of a Trekker light. 
> Yes,  that is a beer
> analogy, folks.  The Breeze touts its simplicity. 
> It gives users
> information about your location, but it does not
> permit the more
> sophisticated features that the full fledged Trekker
> does.  If someone is
> looking for a device to use for walking or driving
> around, it would do the
> trick nicely.  Truth is, using the Trekker or the
> system I use, the Braille
> Note PK and Sendero GPS, is fairly complicated.  It
> took me a while to
> figure out how to use my system well enough to guide
> my driver in heavy
> big-city vehicle traffic.  Heather's information
> about training is a vital
> component of this technology.  However, one might be
> able to use the Breeze
> right out of the box without too much trouble.  And
> everything comes with
> good training materials, too.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> -------
> Jim Marks
> blind.grizzly at gmail.com
>  
> 
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