"talking" Gps Units?

[+fox-and-the-hound]

We have a couple newbie cachers in the family and one of them is blind. He enjoys the exercise and the hunt, but was wondering about units. Does anybody know of a voiced or tonal unit? Any ideas of alternate solutions? Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks - Hound

[+YuccaPatrol]

I just asked my wife who is a blind rehab specialist and she sent me here to look at the BrailleNote with GPS.

 

The BrailleNote is a laptop computer for the blind and is now available with GPS.

 

But it is NOT cheap. The BrailleNote computers are in the $4000-6000 range and then you add the GPS system to it. They have a really neat video showing how it works on the site.

 

http://www.senderogroup.com/

 

As far as I know, the commercially available talking units tend to be made for use in automobiles and may not be very useful for caching. At least, it might be difficult to get an automobile GPS to give the kind of audio directions needed for caching.

 

Edit: Another search found this solution that might also work and a lot cheaper than the BrilleNote, but still expensive. . . . It works with a pocket PC, a Destinator GPS add-on, and some special software called StreetTalk

 

http://www.freedomscientific.com/fs_news/p...r-6-30-2005.asp

Edited April 18, 2006 by YuccaPatrol

[peter]

There used to be a little box for sale at about $90 that would take NMEA messages from any GPS and convert them to voice messages such as reading off the lat/long. It was called ERIC, but the links I have no longer work.

 

There's a somewhat related story on Garmin's website at:

http://www.garmin.com/whatsNew/adventures/story10.html

I'd expect there to be many resource centers similar to the one mentioned that might be of assistance.

[+Sputnik 57]

For a quick and simple solution (but for in-car only) take a look at the Garmin Quest (or Quest 2). It gives voice turn-by-turn directions via a speaker attached to a cigarette lighter. The Quest can be found in the low $300's. The Quest units can be taken from the car and used like other hand-helds, but the voice unit requires a 12 volt cigarette lighter-type power source.

 

Another fairly low-tech approach would be a laptop loaded with Garmin maps and nRoute, perhaps coupled with the Garmin 18, or another GPSr. Again, the voice prompts are limited to on-road navigation, if I recall correctly.

 

You also may want to try a post in the Handicaching Forum?. The folks there may be more familiar with caches and technology suited for this family member.

[+Big-AlH]

Best bet would be some sort of PDA - but I don't know of any caching software the does speech. I can see a problem where the cache is located on a path but the path winds around. The GPS will be pointing line-of-sight which would lead the person into potential trouble.

 

-al

[+StagsRoar]

I've got a talking GPS unit - it's a model 75 W.I.F.E - it's excellant at telling me where and when to go and how to get there! Also has excellant receiving capabilities as well - whatever i get she receives and it has all sorts of buttons you can push as well. Can be fairly high maintanence though. if you want one just click on this link: http://russian-brides-club.net/

[+fox-and-the-hound]

Thanks everybody! I told Uncle Bob and he said he already had a W.I.F.E. model of his own to help him navigate around the trees, but the rest is pretty helpful. He already has the brail pc unit and another voice recognition pc that he's using on a daily basis so he might be able to put them to new use soon. Thanks again for the quick response. - Hound & Uncle Bob

[OuttaHand]

As a (legally) blind person myself, I've looked toward the National Federation for the Blind at times.

Seeing your post I decided to check their web site and found this: GPS tecnology for the blind

Here's a description cut-n-pasted from their site:

GPS systems are used to assist a blind person to find out about a city or particular location. A vehicle or pedestrian route can be created and interactively followed with a GPS. The system also provides directional information. A GPS system is not a replacement for a cane, or a guide dog; however, it can be very useful in certain situations.

 

BrailleNote GPS: This system attaches to BrailleNote, BrailleNote PK, mPower, or VoiceNote. When in use, the user will have a GPS receiver either attached to a BrailleNote by cord or using a wireless GPS. Systems include GPS receiver, pouch, maps, in either a 1GB, or 2GB to 4GB Compact Flash Card. Sendero Group LLC. Price: 1GB, $1,399 and 2GB- 4GB with all maps loaded, $1,999.

 

Trekker: This is a stand-alone device that consists of a shoulder strap on which is attached a GPS receiver, power module, speaker, and I-PACK PDA. HumanWare. Price: $1,595.

[+TotemLake]

That's a downright handy link to have. Thanks!