Press Materials in response to Wellington New Zealands, BlindSquare Enabled project.
1. Stuff Magazine - Business Day - August 28/16
Wellington's Retailers are embracing the opportunity to make the capital more accessible by installing a navigation system for visually impaired.
2. Newstalk ZB - "Thomas Bryan: Helping the Blind to Shop" August 30/16
New technology is being rolled out in Wellington retailers helping the blind to navigate shops themselves. BlindSquare is an app that uses prior mapping and audio options to help someone get into and around a shop.
3. RNZ -"This way up" program - Oct 29/16
A short trip to the shops or a cafe can be a major challenge if you are blind or visually impaired. BlindSquare is a navigation app that uses a combination of GPS and Bluetooth to help people navigate both outside and inside buildings and shopping centres where GPS doesn't work.
4. Radio New Zealand - "This way up" for Saturday Oct 29/16"
Indoor navigation for the blind, global granny gurb, japan's workplace issues, how do you rest and relax, and who should control these algorithms?
5. The REGISTER - Retail Intelligence - September 6/16
BlindSquare opens up Wellington retail stores for the visually impaired.
Thomas Bryan, Blind Foundation NZ , "People with visual impairments can easily walk straight past stores they might want to shop at, says the Blind Foundation’s Thomas Bryan, but a new initiative brought to central Wellington is making retailers harder to miss."
6. SCOOP Independent News, New Zealand - Sept 18/16
Beacons offer life without limits in capital
Wellington City Council is proud to be working closely with the Blind Foundation to introduce a new product to the capital which will help people with sight loss comfortably navigate the city and its businesses.
7. The Blind Side, with Jonathan Mosen - Interview with Thomas Bryan and street-tour with Jonathan and daughter, Heidi - Sept 24/16
Using the GPS (Global Positioning System), blind people can now obtain detailed information about their environment with the aid of smartphones, note takers and stand-alone devices. But the system is unsuitable for providing detailed navigation information in-doors. The developers of the popular BlindSquare iOS app are seeking to solve that problem with a system they call BPS, the BlindSquare Positioning System.
In his book "iOS 7 Without the Eye", Jonathan Mosen predicted that iBeacons had the potential to dramatically improve the information blind people receive about the built environment, if a developer took the technology and used it for that purpose. BlindSquare have made that possibility an impressive reality. Jonathan Mosen speaks with Thomas Bryan of the Blind Foundation in New Zealand about the Foundation's work with the Wellington Regional Council to facilitate a comprehensive roll-out of BPS in Wellington's central business district. And as the roll-out begins, Jonathan and Heidi Mosen hit the streets of central Wellington to see what kind of difference BPS can make to a blind person's independent travel.
8. Wellington, BlindSquare Enabled - Project Launch Video - Sept 20/17
Wellington New Zealand, a global leader for their recognition and support of persons with disabilities, has commissioned the first "No Dark Doors" project with BlindSquare. A joint project, sponsored by Kontakt.io, Radiola Smart Transit, Blind Foundation and Wellington City Council provides a solution for information darkness experienced by travelers who are blind or partially sighted as they enter store locations.
The first phase of the project services 200 continuous shops in Wellington's central business district.
9. Cook Strait News - Sept 22/16
People with sight loss will now be able to comfortably navigate Wellington city and its businesses.
10. BBC - CLICK - Interview and views
Interviews with Thomas Bryan, Jonathan Mosen and others.
BlindSquare mashes up more technologies to the benefit of travellers who are blind.
Jonathan Mosen "Absolutely amazing for me as I was walking down the street" - "...really one of those Hey Wow moments"
11. Demonstration of BlindSquare Beacon Enabled Transit with Radiola Smart Transit E-Stop sign
Here we find a man walking down a street in Wellington, his steps preceeded with his white cane, guided by BlindSquare to a bus stop. On arrival he is automatically apprised of the location and identification of the bus stop, routes being served but more, the exact arrival time of the bus from real-time information.
12. Independent Herald, NZ. "Capital city accessible"
Beacons which assist an app for the blind and visually impaired are set to be installed throughout the capital thanks to Kontakt.io and the Wellington City Council
