[nagdu] GPS Training

Mon Feb 7 00:48:47 UTC 2011

Lisa, 

That was a great explanation of our Trekker Breeze training. We've modified
it slightly for the recent upgrades and now will include evening lectures on
how to put in addresses from the device and your computer. 

We work in Port Jefferson, Long Island for much of the training now and have
one fun exercise that really does show you where your trust should lie. 

There is a very nice pier you can walk along that juts out into the sound.
We have you create a landmark on shore then walk out on the pier. The
walkway takes a couple bends though. Then we have you use the Breeze to
navigate back to that landmark. Well, since you are in an open area off the
street grid, the Breeze gives you directions by clock face angles. If you
were to follow them, you'd be very wet, very quickly. <grin> 

Our motto during the training is Dog, Gut, Trekker, to describe the order in
which you should trust incoming info as you travel. 

When we set up the training, we decided to use other blind people to do the
teaching of the classroom and some street work with guide dog instructors
and volunteers assisting on the streets to observe dog behavior and safety
issues. 

I can't wait to get our next series of classes going in April. I love
training folks with the device. 

Jenine Stanley

jeninems at wowway.com

From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Lisa belville
Sent: Sunday, February 06, 2011 7:28 PM
To: national guide dog
Subject: [nagdu] GPS Training

Okay, I'll try to combine all of the Breeze questions into one hopefully not
so long missive.  I was in one of the several pilot classes the GDF
conducted last year, so my info may be out of date due to their modifying
the class.  Also, the Breeze has had several firmware updates over the past
year, so they'll need to incorporate that into the current training.

Jenine Stanley works for the GDF and so can probably answer any questions
more thoroughly.

First, the Breeze training at the GDF is only open to GDF grads.  Grads have
to have been working with their dog for at least six months and have gelled
as a team.

You fill out an application giving specifics about where you live, what
kinds of environments you live in and if you live close to geographical
features like mountains, large lakes, etc..  This might sound trivial, but
features like this can cause the GPS to not work accurately or not at
all,depending on the circumstance.

They also ask about your hearing and how fast you can walk because these can
also affect working with a GPS.

The training is just over two days.  The class begins on a Monday evening
and technically ends on a Wednesday evening, but most people didn't actually
leave the foundation until the next morning.

We got the manual and other Breeze documentation Emailed a week or so before
the class so we could read the manual and familiarize ourselves with
concepts, terminology, etc.  This really didn't help me much as far as
orientation to the keypad because I'm the kind of person who needs to feel
what's being described as it's being described.

They give out the units the evening everyone arrives and spend time with
orientation to the buttons and how to adjust the volume, voice rate and
pitch, etc.  This is so you can reliably find buttons while walking with the
dog or find a voice rate and volume that's comfortable for you so you won't
have to fiddle with it during training.

There are two blind instructors and a sighted person to drive the van and
give additional information about surroundings, etc..  One blind instructor
walks with us and explains why the Breeze says what it does when it does.
The other one hangs out in the van with the other Breeze students and does
one on one demonstrations and explanations if anyone wants it.

The next day we start by doing different routes in different areas.
Smithtown and the surrounding area is fairly diverse so people get a chance
to see how it operates while walking down a busy sidewalk full of overhangs,
trees and glass store fronts. We cross all kinds of intersections with very
rounded curbs, diagonal crossings, T intersections, etc.  The Breeze might
give some inaccurate information about what street you're on if the curb is
really rounded, so that's why the various street crossings are included.

We go through the process of making landmarks, creating routes to landmarks,
using routes in a vehicle or on foot, backtracking, making landmarks while
using the Breeze when it's off the street grid and relying only on as the
crow flies directions, and using those to find off the grid landmarks.

They also explain a bit of how the GPS works and how using GPS for someone
with no vision who is walking is a bit different than how a GPS in a car
operates.  IMO, this is one of the most important parts of the training
because we learn the limitations of the GPS and how to compensate for not
having the ability to glance around and take in surroundings to verify what
the GPS is or isn't telling you.

Judging by some of the questions I've seen on the various technology list,
not knowing how the GPS works, combined with not being familiar with the
local area can be very frustrating for people, especially if they got the
GPS under the impression it would guide them right to a door with step by
step directions.  Yes, the Breeze is as accurate as a mainstream GPS, but
mainstream GPSs don't get sighted people to the door of their houses, but
can be several feet off even though the Breeze alerts them that they're at
the landmark.  The Breeze uses the same maps and GPS features as mainstream
products,; there are just more specific tools to help blind people.  For
example, it will not always work if you're in a city with tall buildings
because it was originally designed to work using a vehicle that was,
presumably on a road with clear access to the sky.  The Buildings block the
signal so you may not always get an accurate estimate of where you're going
unless you move closer to the street.  It will not work reliably inside most
buildings.  It can't get you precisely to a door, especially if that door is
under a roof because the signal is blocked or if the signal is bouncing off
reflective objects like windows or water.  This is why You need to know what
the unit is telling you, along with the information you're getting from your
dog and your own senses in order to know if you're getting the correct
information from the GPS., they wanted us to know how the unit acted with
these situations so we knew when to rely on the unit and when not to.  It
was emphasized several times that the GPS, just like the dog, is another
tool in the tool box and that all of them operate independently of each
other.

It's like any other technology.  Some people are very tech savvy and can
grasp new concepts and incorporate them into how they're already working
while some can't.  Toni did a good job of explaining how the GPS and the dog
work together and how this does take some practice.  Some people may not
grasp this as quickly, or realize that if they stop long enough they could
lose their current GPS fix.  Some people may only take the time to learn the
basics of their equipment and either not feel comfortable or just put off
using the advanced functions.

The GDF wants people to get the full benefit of the Breeze and how it can
enhance the dog/human partnership.  They pack a lot into the two day
training so that we can hit the ground running back home.

Lisa

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