2019-07-14 16:34:57

Hello there,

Yes, of course, I would be. There is actually a larger community of blind navi junkies in Poland so you would receive a bunch of valuable feedback.

The argument with holding phone in your hand vs. in your pocket is an important one. We use navigation for other things than sighted people sometimes. Often I wished I had a way to carry my cane in one hand, a bag of shopping in the other and still be able to handle my navigation as I find my way from that shop back to home, to the hotel etc. I don't know much about what is possible in web-apps and what is not so I can only keep my fingers crossed.

One thing I found always missing, especially when I was beginning my adventure with accessible navigation, was a system of meaningful messages telling me how to interpret the data I receive, for instance, based on my bearing direction I wished I could hear things like "You're going wrong, turn around" or "You're back on the right path, carry on". This could be a special beginner's mode thing and could be disabled by those who feel advanced enough.

Also, it would be great if using the available POI from OSM, the next turn announcement could carry more contextual information E.G. in order to reach your turn, you will have to cross the street to the other side on the way or that there are stairs to be taken, fixed obstacles on the way that are noted in the database etc. just so that the user knows what to expect on the way. It could also determine which side of the sidewalk to take based on the heading direction and available map data. This could be useful again for people just learning how orientation works but somehow I feel I would use that too.

How doable are voice commands for hands-free operation? Of course at a later stage, when you're comfortable with the basics.

Have you looked into Microsoft's mapping API's. Those could be less expensive than Google.
Also, spatial sound seems to be a thing with navigation now. Have you seen GRMapa for instance?
http://grmapa.zlotowicz.pl
A lot of users seem to be happy with how it lets you imagine the correlations between streets.

I know this is a lot but I am really curious how far this can go.

Looking forward to releases.

kind regards

Paweł

2019-07-15 22:27:08

Hi guys,
I finally turned on a testing environment for an BlindWalk application for a while.
If you wish to try it out, please create your account on https://justbest.eu/
This will not be long online because of the further works I'm planning to do with it. I need your feedback as  much concrete as possible.
This application is based on directions from MapQuest API so I hope you enjoy it.
As usually, would you use it, would it be confortable and so on?

2019-07-16 07:40:13

hurstseth405 wrote:

Is there a way you could do a app? I'm not really good on using chrome on my droid?

One of the members of this forum noded that there is a way to compile JS + HTML + CSS - WEB based content to a native app, so that remains to be seen what I can do. I turned on the testing environment, so I guess it depends on bunch of feedback and some other things as well.

2019-07-16 07:45:19

hadi.gsf wrote:

1. I would test and provide feedback for sure!
2. It would have been great  if it was an app, but since you have already started working on it, i'll be interested to see what you'll be doing! and you're right,  maybe  it wouldn't be that bad to use a browser if you need its functions thats not provided anywhere else.
3. I don't have any technical skills for making apps so sorry, wouldn't be able to help.

but yeah i'll be watching for the alpha/beta to test

Thanks though. My intention is to make some tool to help when you have no idea what to do. I know it's sounds inconfortable to use it via browser, but since it's good, perhaps it's not the worst case? You can test it here: https://justbest.eu
Looking forward to get the responce.

2019-07-16 08:01:03

electro wrote:

Well I was only hopping for only an app, instead of using Chrome on my android with commentary or Talkback feels so sluggish.

Perhaps you wish to try it out: https://justbest.eu

2019-07-16 08:02:26

Munawar wrote:

I'd gladly host it if you'd like me to. I'm already paying for a server anyway.

It would be great. I guess we can discuss about it when at least some testing will be on the way. There are of course features to implement, but you can test it and see how it goes: https://justbest.eu

2019-07-16 08:25:44

Piciok wrote:

Hello there,

Yes, of course, I would be. There is actually a larger community of blind navi junkies in Poland so you would receive a bunch of valuable feedback.

The argument with holding phone in your hand vs. in your pocket is an important one. We use navigation for other things than sighted people sometimes. Often I wished I had a way to carry my cane in one hand, a bag of shopping in the other and still be able to handle my navigation as I find my way from that shop back to home, to the hotel etc. I don't know much about what is possible in web-apps and what is not so I can only keep my fingers crossed.

One thing I found always missing, especially when I was beginning my adventure with accessible navigation, was a system of meaningful messages telling me how to interpret the data I receive, for instance, based on my bearing direction I wished I could hear things like "You're going wrong, turn around" or "You're back on the right path, carry on". This could be a special beginner's mode thing and could be disabled by those who feel advanced enough.

Also, it would be great if using the available POI from OSM, the next turn announcement could carry more contextual information E.G. in order to reach your turn, you will have to cross the street to the other side on the way or that there are stairs to be taken, fixed obstacles on the way that are noted in the database etc. just so that the user knows what to expect on the way. It could also determine which side of the sidewalk to take based on the heading direction and available map data. This could be useful again for people just learning how orientation works but somehow I feel I would use that too.

How doable are voice commands for hands-free operation? Of course at a later stage, when you're comfortable with the basics.

Have you looked into Microsoft's mapping API's. Those could be less expensive than Google.
Also, spatial sound seems to be a thing with navigation now. Have you seen GRMapa for instance?
http://grmapa.zlotowicz.pl
A lot of users seem to be happy with how it lets you imagine the correlations between streets.

I know this is a lot but I am really curious how far this can go.

Looking forward to releases.

kind regards

Paweł

Hi,
It is really valuable info you posted here.
Since now I have no other option than keep your screen on and use navigation, I thaught perhaps it's worth to buy some closable  / coverable case for the device and use it by putting your device into the pocket?
Where are these blind navi junkies as you mentioned? I need some testing feedback.
Your point about the wrong direction is smooth so I'll think about it's implementation a bit later, there are some major things to do, but that's the way to go.
I tried to take an information about the stairs from OSM and it works as much as they have info about it. Another major thing is the side of the street. I would be able to calculate the side of the street perhaps, but since distance from the point towards the current location can be big enough, it makes this problem, because when straightest line towards the point from the current location is long, then angle becomes not such exact and I don't know if really it's possible to calculate such thing this way. Perhaps I would need some other points to get and then try to calculate the side of the street, however OSM provides such information when makes a route. Problem stays still, because their provided info about side of the street are usually unknown sad
Of course if you GPS data is not so trusted, amongs the jumps of the bearing, you will hear different instructions about the sidewalk e.g. left or right side to take and then it decides differently, you will not feel very delighted.
Voice commands perhaps could be implemented as well, because as a web developers, we may ask for a users permission of the microphone, but I need to check it out to be sure.
Spatial sound sounds great to navigate through all the area, but since my requests to the MapQuest API are rather limited, it hardly can be implemented with the technologies that are in my hands so far. Perhaps I could download all the planet from OSM and put into the database, but all the services would crash instantly.
I could try to include them as a separate xml files for each region, but there is really a lot of work for one person, so navigation through all the map is something I'll perhaps not do.
Microsofts mapping APIs are also priced, however I'll make a research and decide.
If you whish to test it, there is the first implementation: https://justbest.eu

2019-07-17 10:17:49

Since now, I implemented the feature of nearby places. Those are taken from OSM via MapQuest API, so you can test and say how it works for you: https://www.justbest.eu/

2019-07-23 11:35:13 (edited by frastlin 2019-07-23 11:36:10)

Please checkout how cross-platform apps can be created using browser technology.
This should solve the problem of not working when the phone is locked.

2019-07-31 10:43:12

frastlin wrote:

Please checkout how cross-platform apps can be created using browser technology.
This should solve the problem of not working when the phone is locked.

Thanks. I decided to go with Cordova, but first, I'll implement some few good algorithms, because I integrated Trafi for the public transport, nearby places and a lot good stuff. In few days or even sooner I'll post a podcast about the progress I'm in, because I didn't update public testing environment long enough.

2020-03-04 17:32:48

hi. Sorry for reviving this topic.
what about adding favourites section? you can add your favourite place in favourites and you must not search it all the time in google maps.
2: also can it be ported as aplication?

Yours kindly

2020-07-23 21:17:05

Hi guys, I just found this post today and remembered my atempts to create navigation app. I can continue to implement Mapquest if you need it, because my Google maps subscription is over big_smile