[nabs-l] Crossing the Street for the Blind

Sun Nov 16 07:12:46 UTC 2008

Sarah,

Do you think billions of dollars is a fair price to pay for you to risk 
your life to cross a street when you can neither see nor potentially hear 
the dangers--including cars running those red lights?

Joseph

On Sat, Nov 15, 2008 at 09:59:12AM -0600, Sarah Alawami wrote:
>I'd agree there, but sometimes you have a hearing loss as well as a
>blindness issue . I'd rather have the device vibrate and beep at me if i  do
>start vearing and if I have a hearing loss then it to stop the traphic
>suddenly.
>
>Take care.
>
>Sarah "Alawami
>The christmas holidays are coming up! check out my music page at
>http://music.marrie.org for some relaxing  holiday favorites.
> 
>Thanks and have a wonderful day.
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
>Of Beth
>Sent: Sunday, November 09, 2008 9:22 PM
>To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
>Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Crossing the Street for the Blind
>
>Interesting stuff, Arielle.  I'd rather have, however, an accessible cell
>phone rather than the cell phone I have in order to use the software he's
>putting together.  He's got a long way to go as far as learning what blind
>people actually use.
>Beth
>
>On 11/9/08, Arielle Silverman <arielle71 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> I wonder how many people's blindness training could be funded by the 
>> money needed for this project?
>>
>> For the 21.2 million Americans who suffer from vision loss, crossing 
>> the street can be a stressful and potentially dangerous proposition.
>> Thanks
>> to engineers at the University of Idaho, many visually impaired 
>> individuals soon may have a greatly reduced risk thanks to a tool 
>> already in their pockets - their cell phone.
>>
>> The statistics for vision loss, provided by the American Foundation 
>> for the Blind, include anyone reporting difficulty seeing, even while 
>> wearing glasses or contact lenses. No matter the level of visual 
>> impairment, many conditions - including visual noise, walking at night 
>> and irregular intersections - can result in missing a crosswalk.
>>
>> Regardless of conditions, the new system being developed in Moscow, 
>> Idaho, will make intersections safer and easier to navigate.
>>
>> "Minute for minute on the road, any pedestrian is 150 percent more 
>> likely to
>>
>> be injured by a car than somebody driving one," said Richard Wall, 
>> professor
>>
>> of electrical and computer engineering. "But it is pretty apparent 
>> that the
>>
>> blind pedestrians are the ones most at risk at intersections.b
>>
>> The new technology utilizes features already available in many 
>> cellular
>>
>> phones, including communications, Global Positioning Satellite
>> (GPS)
>>
>> functions and magnetic compasses to help visually impaired 
>> pedestrians.
>>
>> Specialized software allows these pedestrians to activate the crossing
>>
>> signal remotely without having to locate the physical button.
>>
>> Then, the GPS system monitors the position and direction of travel 
>> while crossing. As long as the crosser stays within the crosswalk, 
>> nothing happens. But stray outside the lines, and an audible warning 
>> activates alerting the pedestrian of their danger. It then provides 
>> directions on how to get back within the safety zone. Should the 
>> walker somehow end up in the middle of the intersection, the system 
>> automatically would turn every light red, stopping traffic and 
>> averting a potential disaster.
>>
>> "It's true that this would disrupt the timing of the signal patterns 
>> when it gets activated," said Wall. "But we would much rather disrupt 
>> them for a few seconds than for a half hour while an ambulance assists 
>> a traffic victim."
>>
>> To ensure people don't trigger the alarm just for fun, only those who 
>> need the help would be able to acquire the necessary software.
>>
>> The system requires more than software, however. It also requires the 
>> installation of new hardware in thousands of lights across the 
>> country.
>> Luckily, Wall and his team have found a solution that not only is cost 
>> effective, it simplifies the existing system.
>>
>> Many crosswalks currently have handicapped-Many crosswalks curre 
>> provide help such as audio tones indicating when it is safe to cross.
>> However,
>> the box that controls the intersection contains a massive amount of 
>> wiring. This is necessary to connect each actuator with each signal so 
>> at any given time, the control box knows each state.
>>
>> Wall's new system simplifies each box to only two wires, both already 
>> required to power the signals. It uses a technology called Ethernet 
>> over power line, which allows information to be broadcast over power 
>> lines.
>>
>> The future is clear for Wall and his research team. They have 
>> established dates to deliver the engineering and expect field trials 
>> to commence in June. They are building prototypes supported by funds 
>> from the University Transportation Centers program, Idaho's Higher 
>> Education Research Council and their commercial partner, Campbell 
>> Company, who currently makes the accessible pedestrian signals that 
>> chirp and talk for the handicapped.
>>
>> "The signals we're building are more than prototypes. These devices 
>> actually can go into the field and work today," said Wall. "We're 
>> using existing infrastructure and communicating intelligence over it.
>> It's
>> cost effective, it simplifies the connection to two wires and it can 
>> be immediately installed in all the existing crosswalks in the 
>> country."
>>
>> If you would like more information, or to speak with the people 
>> involved, please let me know.
>>
>> Ken Kingery
>>
>> Science/Research Writer
>>
>> University of Idaho
>>
>> Office: 208-885-9156
>>
>> Cell: 614-570-3942
>>
>> --~--~--------~--~-----~--~-----~--~-----~--~-----~--
>>
>> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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