More freedom for the Blind and Vision Impaired - A Proposed Navigation and Information System

There are over 1.2 million Australians registered as having vision impairment. There are many more cases that go unrecognised and untreated in our society. Welfare for this group costs AUS$12 billion a year with lost business opportunity costs of AUS$42 billion. In the UK, the welfare cost is estimated at £49 billion per annum just for those Blind and Vision Impaired (BVI) that suffer from Glaucoma and Cataracts, indicating that the overall welfare costs of blindness are much higher. Any system which could increase the mobility and independence of the vision impaired has the potential to save significant taxpayer dollars. University of New South Wales, Vision Australia and Ramsey-Stewart Industry Design have secured a four-year ARC Linkage project to develop a Mobility and Location Information system for the BVI. The prototype is a system comprising a handheld/mobile device, Information and Communications Technologies (ICT), indoor and outdoor positioning technologies and Server Software that gives a BVI person information about where they are and how to get to where they want to go. Furthermore, a lot of location related information can be provided by such a proposed system. This is an excellent example of a “location-based service”, which has been slated as the largest area of growth for ICT in the coming decade. This product will not replace the traditional white cane or guide dog, but is an additional device to enable the BVI to enjoy mobility and have an improved sense of confidence and self assurance. This paper presents some background to the project and discusses the challenges of this research.