[vip_students] Wayfinder
- From: "Aedan O'Meara" <aomeara@xxxxxx>
- To: <vip_students@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 8 Feb 2006 16:42:20 -0000
Hi all,
Paul has asked me to describe the Wayfinder system that I have been playing
with for about three months now.
It is a GPS guidance system similar to those on a lot of new cars now but it
is designed to work on the Nokia or other mobile phones that use the
Symbien60 operating system. The NcBI offer on the Nokia 6600 is suitable
for this.
So what is it?
Firstly, you get in the pack a tiny satellite receiver about the size of a
matchbox. This has bluetooth (radio) connection to your mobile phone. It
needs recharging every night from a mains charger supplied.
Secondly, you get a disk with the necessary software to load onto your
mobile phone. This software is updated regularly. After loading it onto your
phone, you must contact their web site to get registered. They give you a
password. This is necessary because the routes you design are generated from
maps kept on their site to make it possible to use on the tiny memory on the
phone. You can download detailed maps for Dublin, Limerick and Cork cities
only. They have no other for Ireland yet. Even when you download their maps
any route you make is uploaded automatically onto their site as a backup in
an area called "My Wayfinder".
Finally, the program called Wayfinder appears on your menu on the phone.
Clicking on this to select it opens a screen with five tab sheets which you
can move to using the right and left arrows.
These are from the left:
Menu, Map, Guide, Itinery, Distance totals.
Usually one would make up a route first. To do this go to "Newroute" under
the Menu heading. You will be asked for a start and destination position.
These may be selected from a map by typing in the address of your start
position or destination or if you have already made up a favourites list
you can select it from there.
Selecting OK will start it generating a route from the start to the finish
point. Depending on whether you have chosen Car, Taxi, or pedestrian mode it
will try to get you from start to finish the quickest way.
So off you go and the first thing that happens is a beep beep that indicates
that the receiver has got a fix from the satellites.
A female voice will then tell you the distance in meters to the end of your
road. When you get there, it will tell you to turn, and the distance to next
turn.
In the third tab sheet from the left you will be told in a Guide window
exactly where you are in meters from the end of your current road. I have
found that you can easily trigger Talks to read this screen whilst wearing
the headphones by pressing the button in the junction block in the phones
lead once.
This way you can check at any time just where you are.
Now, having said all the above, you must be aware that the American
Military, who own the satellites, deliberately program in errors to protect
against terrorist use of the system. Hence, you will never get the exact
position and the thing will vary by as much as 30 meters from day to day.
The days I don't take it with me I miss it and am occasionally left
wondering just where we are until I can pick up on the twists and turns of
the bus again.
Now the costs.
The current offer can be seen on the web site:
www.wayfinder.com
It is based in Norway. They have a very friendly helpemail system and I have
even suggested improvements to the necxt version of their software due out
in March.
Cost: ?120 for the sat receiver.
?120 for the first years use of the software.
?99 each year after that.
I understand that right across Europe they are getting quite a response from
blind people. Their system is not aimed at blind but happens to be largely
Talks friendly. We have asked for the facility to make our own routes so
that it will guide us on trains etc. They are looking at this.
However, I get enough information to know wherre I am on the bus home at any
point in time.
Regards
Aedan.
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