Smartphones offer new perspectives in the field of disability, particularly in terms of mobility. The application BlindSquare goes even further by integrating data from Foursquare.
With more than 20 million users worldwide, Foursquare lists an impressive number of places, whether restaurants, bars, shops, parks … The application BlindSquare now allows blind people to consult this address list thanks to the VoiceOver technology and to iPhone GPS to find out “What is the most popular coffee in a radius of 400 feet? Where is the post office?” etc..
BlindSquare includes different categories like nightlife, shopping, or art. Addresses, nearby places, notices, street names or orientation are stated aloud. The user simply shake the phone to find popular sites listed around him. It also has the ability to mark and share information about these places with his friends.
For now, the application is only available in English, Finnish and Swedish and costs $14.99 on the Apple Store. To ensure that its use is entirely appropriate for the visually impaired, BlindSquare was tested in the United States, Finland and Australia by the blind.
We are delighted to discover this new service and we hope that this application will soon be broken down into French!
And you, do you think smartphones can improve the lives of blind people?
