OpenWay is a GPS application on a smartphone that allows a visually impaired user to follow a route independently in town or in the countryside. The specificity of this so-called "inertial" application allows the blind person to always have the right directional indications even in case of unexpected change of orientation of the person.
Indeed, during a trip we are inevitably to hesitate in some places, and the fact of being able to be properly oriented regardless of the orientation of his body is a decisive element to arrive effectively at destination.
Once the application is launched, the person can put their phone in their pocket and navigate through OpenWay by voice commands.
The ergonomics were designed so that the use is the most fluid in the choice of menus. A non-intrusive ear conduction headset provides the link between the phone and the user. Just press a button on the headset to activate the microphone and indicate its order.
The stages of use:
- Urban navigation
When OpenWay launches and the wireless bone conduction headset is connected to the phone, you press the microphone button to first indicate in which environment one wishes to move (hiking or urban).
If you choose urban, just say "address". Another press on the button to indicate the address. Then OpenWay looks for the requested address and then states it. The application then goes into navigation mode and by default indicates the course and the distance as the crow flies from the destination.
If desired, a voice command can be used to select guidance with relay points. That is, the course will be segmented. The segments can correspond to crossings of streets, turns. The question often forgotten when one is visually impaired and that has just turned on his GPS: in which direction I go?
OpenWay instantly gives direction. If the point of arrival is behind us, the course will be at six o'clock. If we make a half turn, the point will pass instantly at noon. From then on, the displacement can begin. This does not exclude reflexes of uses in locomotion.
- Campaign navigation
If you choose the hike mode in OpenWay, the application will offer the available hikes starting with those closest to the person. For a hike to be accessible and secure, it is first carried out by a locomotion instructor (specialist in the movement of the visually impaired) who will make a topographic survey with all the indications of dangers or practical itineraries.
All these statements are then reported in the comments of the course and triggered at the appropriate time. For example: if at the fourth point there is a ditch on the left, OpenWay will say "squeeze right, ditch left". This message will be repeated throughout the danger zone, both upstream and downstream. However, the application will continue to give the indications of trajectory. If by mistake the person leaves the marked course, OpenWay will signal it. The hiking mode makes it possible to create all sorts of theme courses or levels of difficulty, for adults and children.