[Artbeyondsightmuseums] Apps, maps

[Lisa Yayla]

A Mapping App For The Blind Talks You Through The Neighborhood
BlindSquare uses FourSquare check-ins to give the visually impaired a 
sense of what's popular, reads them the menu, and then directs them to 
the destination.

http://www.fastcoexist.com/mba/1681005/a-mapping-app-for-the-blind-talks-you-through-the-neighborhood
http://blindsquare.com/



Visually impaired aim for awards
Six students have signed up to take part, and have been practising their 
map reading skills around campus,
http://www.longridgenews.co.uk/news/regional/visually-impaired-aim-for-awards-1-5133789


'Indoor GPS': Every step you take, every move you make, Google's got 
maps for you

Google has thrown its weight 
<http://maps.google.com/help/maps/indoormaps/index.html> behind indoor 
navigation and says the technology is reaching the tipping point, while 
Australian firms have developed competing technology that they say could 
roll out in shopping centres like Westfield and QIC within six months. 
Australian researchers are also using it to try to give independence 
back to the blind or visually impaired.

http://www.theage.com.au/digital-life/smartphone-apps/indoor-gps-every-step-you-take-every-move-you-make-googles-got-maps-for-you-20121115-29e1b.html


Color ID Free
Color Identifier uses the camera on your iPhone or iPod touch to speak 
the names of colors in real-time. It's an Augmented Reality app for 
discovering the names of the colors around you!
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/color-id-free/id402233600?mt=8

Teignmouth Cliffden hotel given RNIB 'tactile maps'
Teignbridge District Council is helping visitors with visual impairments 
get the best out of their holidays in Teignmouth by donating 'tactile 
maps' to the Cliffden Hotel.
The Council has given the hotel the six special maps each containing 
raised profiles of street layouts with street names and useful 
information written in Braille, so people with little or no sight can 
find their way around the seaside town.
http://www.thisissouthdevon.co.uk/Teignmouth-Cliffden-hotel-given-RNIB-tactile-maps/story-17167768-detail/story.html


Hallam students rise to the new Challenge
A WOMAN who created a series of tactile maps to help visually impaired 
people find their way around London's Olympic Park is in the running for 
a top prize.
Patricia Dieng is one of seven former Sheffield Hallam students to have 
reached the finals of this year's Sheffield Hallam University Enterprise 
Challenge.
Other finalists include Mike Moore, Julie Bishop, Chloe Oakland and 
Katie Stalker and David Hewitt and Mark Tuckett.
Patricia Dieng completed an MA in industrial design and then worked as a 
design researcher before launching TacMap, which makes maps that help 
people with visual impairment to navigate buildings and venues by 
identifying where key features like the lifts and the exits are.
http://www.thestar.co.uk/news/business/hallam-students-rise-to-the-new-challenge-1-5025567

TacMaps
http://tacmap.co.uk/what-the-plans-are-about/

A feel for direction
*A visually impaired man Thursday reads a subway map designed for the 
blind by Shanghai metro authorities. The map is supposed to make it 
easier for the blind to navigate the subway.*
http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/737778.shtml