ESA's EGNOS system to improve mobile navigation for the blind
A new navigation tool, TORMES, soon to be tested under a European Space Agency (ESA) project, aims at enhancing the mobility, and thus increasing the independence and quality of life of visually impaired people. The personal navigator is a handheld device that has been developed by GMV Sistemas, Valladolid, Spain and ONCE (Organización Nacional de Ciegos Españoles), the Spanish national organisation for the visually impaired. Using ESA's new satellite navigation technologies, EGNOS and SISNeT, it is hoped that the task of orientation will be made easier for blind people. Alfredo Catalina, responsible for the project at GMV, Grupo Tecnológico e Industrial, stated clearly the objective of the project in hand: 'We think that the addition of SISNeT to TORMES is very interesting [...] It should allow the blind user to navigate using a map, just as a sighted person can.' Map reading for the blind at present depends largely on the additional aid of sighted people. While tactile maps are helpful in giving an overview of a country, region or city, they are unable to detail adequately streets and landmarks. GPS (Global Positioning System) satellite orientation tools also fail to accurately guide visually impaired people through the streets. Although on-the-ground receivers are in place, signals are lost due to tall buildings and other obstacles, leading to incorrect positioning of up to 30 or 40 metres. EGNOS, the European satellite navigation system, is to play an important role in addressing mobile navigation for the blind. EGNOS was initially set up with a view to improving the functionalities of the GPS (USA) and GLONASS (Russia) systems and it is now at the forefront of navigation services. The EGNOS system achieves a level of accuracy in GPS positioning by broadcasting information from geostationary satellites, thus permitting receivers on the ground to resolve errors in GPS signals. The European Space Agency has also developed an additional technology, SISNeT, Signal-In-Space (SIS) through the Internet, which makes available the navigational information in real time over the Internet. The EGNOS system, added to the already integrated GPS receiver, ensures that TORMES, the navigational tool developed by GMV, improves accuracy in routing and navigational assistance. The tool also includes a Braille keyboard and voice synthesiser as well as Internet access. Javier Ventura-Traveset from ESA, pointed out the benefits of using the Internet in personal navigation: 'When you are connected to the Internet you can also send messages back [....] You can ask for directions to a particular place or say that you are lost or have had an accident. By connecting the world of navigation with the Internet, we are opening up many new possibilities.' It is hoped that TORMES navigational tool will be ready for testing in early February: The device will be tested with and without the EGNOS/SISNeT system in order to compare with previous navigational systems. Members of ONCE, (Organización Nacional de Ciegos Espaòoles), the Spanish national organisation for the visually impaired, are expected to help in defining these tests and assessing the performance of this navigational tool.