• The Private Eye Mission
• The GPS Revolution
• Current Costs
• Our Future Developments
• Research Mandate

The Private Eye Mission

SIRI provides subsidized distribution and training for Privateye, a mobile phone-based navigation system. The name for this system emphasizes its individualistic nature. The user, with the aid of a long cane or a guide dog, can use the Privateye to map out his or her personal territory as "points of interest" and then utilize the device to help guide him or her to a designated target.

We provide free coaching, follow up tech support, and an insurance program for the Privateye

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The GPS Revolution

The growing popularity of GPS and mobile phone technology has radically changed the world of the visually impaired. Economical mobile phone-based GP systems are now available to help cane and guide-dog users to locate themselves in both town and country.

Smart phones utilizing a free GPS software system requires only reasonably priced voicing software and a GPS receiver to become accessible to the visually impaired. Privateye combines these with recent advances in GPS and related software to bring pedestrian Navigation to a new level of reliability.

When combined with the traditional cane and guide dog, Privateye provides a new degree of independence for the visually impaired.

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Current costs

SIRI can now supply a viable Privateye for less than $1000 per user, including training and follow-up.

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Our future developments

Apart from equipping members with private eye and training them in its use, we intend to provide members with more advanced and improved models.

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Research mandate: Towards an Electronic Eye

While walking or travelling in a taxi or bus, Privateye users now have a far better idea of where they are going. There is, however, much room for product improvement.

Current GPS equipped Mobile phones have two important shortcomings:

• The two to ten metre range in accuracy of GPS, while sufficient for the sighted, is inadequate for the blind pedestrian. Curbs and street corners are missed and the system cannot describe meandering paths.
• GPS does not work indoors or in shadowed environments.

In collaboration with the Adaptive Technology Resource Centre (ATRC) at the University of Toronto, we will be working to remedy this through the seamless incorporation of quickly evolving electronic sub-systems. This improved Privateye will interact with a number of supplementary sensors to make indoor navigation possible and enhance overall accuracy.

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