A PDA with GPS to guide blind people

Papenmeier, specialized on electronic aids for the blind and visually impaired, has launched on the German market Trekker, a digital “guide dog”.

Developped by VisuAid, a Canadian based company, this personal digital assistant uses GPS to navigate and features talking menus, talking maps and GPS information. Besides, Trekker also offers search functions for categories of destinations or points of interest such as restaurants, hotels, public buildings, etc.

Trekker allows recording voice notes to create user-defined points, browse routes off-line, and exchange routes and places of interests with other users.

However, Trekker augments the existing aids (white cane and guide dogs), it does not replace or substitute them. With its 10m accuracy it won’t be able to avoid major obstacles, for instance.