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Experiments with a Public Transit Assistant for Blind Passengers

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Computers Helping People with Special Needs (ICCHP 2016)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNISA,volume 9759))

Abstract

Public transportation is key to independence for many blind persons. Unfortunately, in spite of recent accessibility progress, use of public transportation remains challenging without sight. In this contribution, we describe a system that provides enhanced travel-related information access to a blind bus passenger. Users of this system can select a specific bus line and desired destination on a regular Android smartphone or tablet; are notified when the bus arrives; once in the bus, they are informed of its progress during the route; and are given ample advance notice when the bus is approaching their destination. This system was tested with four blind participants in realistic conditions.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Baskin School of Engineering, University of California, Santa Cruz, USA

    German Flores & Roberto Manduchi

Authors
  1. German Flores
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  2. Roberto Manduchi
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Roberto Manduchi .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute Integriert Studieren, Universität Linz, Linz, Austria

    Klaus Miesenberger

  2. Rehabilitationswissenschaften, Technische Universität Dortmund, Dortmund, Germany

    Christian Bühler

  3. Masaryk University , Brno, Czech Republic

    Petr Penaz

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© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

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Flores, G., Manduchi, R. (2016). Experiments with a Public Transit Assistant for Blind Passengers. In: Miesenberger, K., Bühler, C., Penaz, P. (eds) Computers Helping People with Special Needs. ICCHP 2016. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 9759. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-41267-2_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-41267-2_7

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-41266-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-41267-2

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

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