[Electronics-talk] GPS in the Big City

[Gerald Levy]

There is simply no way a one-device-does-it-all gadget like the IPhone could 
possibly be as reliable as a dedicated GPS device like the Trekker Breeze. 
A few years ago,someone (Lynn Tatum, I think) produced a podcast 
demonstrating the Trekker Breeze as she walked the streets of midtown 
Manhattan.  The unit did not always announce the correct streets or building 
addresses, a problem attributable to the multitude of tall buildings in the 
area.  Besides, walking around in a noisy urban environment with an IPhone 
glued to your ear while trying to listen for traffic and other important 
auditory clues is a recipe for trouble.  Distracted walking for a blind 
person is just as dangerous as distracted driving is for a sighted person.

Gerald


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Christopher Chaltain" <chaltain at gmail.com>
To: "Discussion of accessible electronics and appliances" 
<electronics-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, April 10, 2013 2:45 PM
Subject: Re: [Electronics-talk] GPS in the Big City


>I haven't listened to this podcast, but I don't think your conclusion 
>follows from this one data point. Was this using the Maps app from Apple? 
>If so, it had some well reported map issues when it was first released. Was 
>wifi enabled during this test? It's true that tall buildings will block 
>satellite signals, but it isn't clear from what you say below that this is 
>why there were accuracy problems in Acron. Also, using cell tower and wifi 
>hotspot triangulation will improve GPS accuracy, and I would expect New 
>York City has quite a few cell towers and documented wifi hot spots, so 
>this accuracy could be improved quite a bit.
>
> On 04/10/2013 01:35 PM, Gerald Levy wrote:
>>
>> Not true at all.  Last year, Rick Harmon from Blind Geek Zone produced a
>> podcast demonstrating the GPS app for the IPhone 4 in his home town of
>> Akron, Ohio.  Needless to say, it was not very accurate and often
>> announced incorrect street names and landmarks, even though Akron is not
>> a particularly dense urban area like midtown Manhattan.  So it would
>> stand to reason that the GPS app for the IPhone would not work well in a
>> major city with a lot of tall buildings that could block the direct line
>> of sight to the orbiting GPS satellites.
>>
>> Gerald
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Christopher Chaltain"
>> <chaltain at gmail.com>
>> To: "Discussion of accessible electronics and appliances"
>> <electronics-talk at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Wednesday, April 10, 2013 11:56 AM
>> Subject: Re: [Electronics-talk] GPS in the Big City
>>
>>
>>> I'm not sure about the BrailleNote running Sendero, but iPhone/Android
>>> running a GPS app will also use cell tower and wifi hotspot
>>> triangulation to improve location reliability. I would think this
>>> would help quite a bit in a large metropolitan area, but I can't speak
>>> from experience.
>>>
>>> On 04/10/2013 10:49 AM, Tracy Carcione wrote:
>>>> I work in midtown Manhattan.  I have Sendero GPS, running on a
>>>> Braillenote PK.  I find it pretty unreliable in New York City, probably
>>>> because of the many tall buildings.  It frequently says I'm 2 blocks
>>>> away from where I know I am, and heading in a different direction than
>>>> I'm heading.  My question is, does this happen with all GPS in big
>>>> cities, or is it because the GPS is running on a PK, not the most
>>>> powerful system in the world?  Would, say, IPhone GPS be more reliable
>>>> in the big city?
>>>> I am only interested in the big city aspect.  At home, in north Jersey,
>>>> the Sendero and PK work reasonably well.
>>>> Thanks.
>>>> Tracy
>>>>
>>>>
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>>>
>>> --
>>> Christopher (CJ)
>>> chaltain at Gmail
>>>
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>>
>>
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>
> -- 
> Christopher (CJ)
> chaltain at Gmail
>
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