[Trainer-talk] APH Nearby Explorer 2 Released

[David Goldfield]

 From the September APH newsletter …
APH’s Nearby Explorer Version 2 Released
The most powerful, complete, and inexpensive GPS application ever
developed for blind users just got even better with virtual map exploration!
Virtual map exploration is a feature that lets the user use the touch
screen on any supported Android device to get detailed feedback about
nearly any location on earth.
When the user opens Map View in the app, Nearby Explorer announces the
relevant information about the spot touched just as if the user were
actually in that location. The kind of information the user gets depends
on how she sets the feedback possibilities. The choices come from one of
20 possible options on the home screen that include Country, State,
County, City, Street, Nearest Place, and more. The relationship to other
geo-based objects gives a unique, dynamic perspective to blind users.
If a student is studying the counties in her area, for instance, she may
mask out all the other feedback and move a finger around to discover the
placement and relationship of each county in the state. One may also
zoom the map out to encompass large areas, such as the entire state or
region.
While the onboard maps for Nearby Explorer include only the United
States and Canada, a network connection adds basic information about any
place on earth through Google's Places service. While the user cannot
follow a street outside the U.S. or Canada, countries, cities, and
places of interest all provide enough feedback to get a good perspective
about placement and relationship. It is interesting, for instance, for a
user to turn off all feedback except country, then expand the map view
to cover hundreds or thousands of miles and find those countries she’s
read about in the news.
Nearby Explorer costs $99 and is available in the Google Play Store at
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.aph.avigenie&hl=en. It
is also available on quota by calling customer support at 800-223-1839.
If you purchased Nearby Explorer through the Play Store, the automatic
update is free. If you purchased on quota, you should get an email with
a link to download the update.

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      David Goldfield,
Assistive Technology specialist
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