POWER TO THE PEEPO: Are guide dogs about to get satellite navigation technology, and do we have Jason Perkins to thank for it?
Written by admin2 on June 11th, 2009Filed under: Themes, Blind Visionaries, Irked Videos
Quoting Vaughan Simons, blogging for BBC Ouch:
According to Saturday’s edition of The Sun newspaper, guide dogs are about to get satellite navigation technology. And no, it’s not a joke . . . The story reveals that Jason Perkins, a product design student studying in Wales, has developed Peepo, a device that clips onto a guide dog’s harness and vibrates on the left or right side to tell the handler in which direction to go in. Before setting off, the guide dog user speaks their destination into the sat nav’s microphone, and the vibrating receiver is then programmed with the route. Great things are being predicted for the Peepo, and it’s already being lined up as one of the possible winners of this year’s James Dyson Award for excellence in design, named after the guy who developed the bagless vacuum cleaner.
Quoting The Sun:
Blind Jane McCann, 39, from Cardiff, who tested Peepo, said: “I have small children, so it’s difficult to concentrate on the kids and directions at the same time. This was easy to use and life-enhancing.”
Quoting JamesDysonAward.org:
The guide dog has been a tried and trusted companion for the visually impaired, aiding mobility on regular routes. Navigation of totally new places entirely independently is a different story, with only 6% of Guide Dog Owners venturing to new destinations due to anxiety levels. A design that would not replace the trusted companion of the visually impaired . . . but a product to compliment this natural safety element that the guide dog provides was logical when creating technological advancement to maximise confidence with navigation.
Peepo, a mobility aid for the visually impaired, allows for entirely independent navigation when seeking out new destinations. Peepo is compromised of two devices. The first is a handheld GPS device that the user speaks into and confirms their destination. The second attaches to the guide dog handle and gives subtle guidance by way of vibration zones through their fingertips.
Quoting Wired.co.uk:
[Jason] Perkins says that he opted for vibrations after the people he spoke to explained that GPS devices that give verbal directions are hard to hear in noisy situations, such as city streets. Perkins has already patented the device in the US, which he says is a bigger market than the UK, and is now hoping to secure further funding from the Welsh Assembly Government to perfect the device before taking it to market. Peepo is one of the entries to this year’s James Dyson Design Award, which has a top prize of £10,000. Entries close on June 15.
Quoting DesignWeek.co.uk:
Perkins, who has been working with the Cardiff Institute for the Blind to develop the product, says he is seeking a financial backer to take it to market.
