I would personally like to like to thank all the authors for their most valuable
contributions written in most cases in busy circumstances under heavy workloads.
This effort is much appreciated. I would particularly like to thank the lead authors
of each chapter, without whom this book would never have been finished on time
and a special thanks to John Gill for his advice and support throughout the whole
process.
Patrick R.W. Roe
Editor
4
2. Current examples of existing products and services for
people with disabilities
2. Current examples of existing products and services for
people with disabilities
2.1 Introduction
Julio Abascal and Patrick Roe
This chapter brings together a number of examples of good practice that have been
chosen with the objective of providing some insight on the possible evolution from
current telecommunication technologies to future “intelligent environment”
services. The main aim is to give a snapshot of current trends in services that are
accessible to people with disabilities and to discuss the possible impact on people
with physical, sensory or cognitive restrictions (that may be due to a disability,
ageing or to the special conditions or equipment they use). The emphasis is on
presenting current services and how they are likely to evolve in the future to show
what the potential impact could be on people with disabilities and elderly users.
This will also serve as a baseline of what is the current situation in comparison to
the possible future scenarios discussed in chapter 4.
The chapter is structured into four main sections (apart from this introduction): 2.2.
New technologies to help people with disabilities and elderly people; 2.3. New
remote services; 2.4. Evolution of text telephony; and 2.5. User participation in
technology. A summary of the contents is given below.
Section 2.2 New technologies to help people with
disabilities and elderly people
Technological advancement in the field of robotics has provided devices and
techniques for sensoring, positioning, mapping, navigating, etc. These techniques
have made it possible to develop devices to help people with physical, sensorial or
cognitive restrictions to navigate both outdoors and indoors. The section "Safe
navigation with modern technology" makes a detailed description of current
technology to support human navigation and discusses the possibilities for the
near future.
It is known that speech is the main means of communication between people.
Nevertheless a number of users with disabilities experience restrictions in their
speech capacity that limit their communication skills. Current speech technology is
able to translate text-to-voice and voice-to-text (the latter still without enough
quality and reliability), enabling the design of diverse mediation devices and
5
2. Current examples of existing products and services for
people with disabilities
services. These include, for instance, reading texts aloud for people with sight
restrictions, and controlling devices in a more natural way through the voice. The
section entitled "Speech processing for people with disabilities" reviews current
and more particularly, future applications of speech technologies that can enhance
the communication of elderly people and people with disabilities.
Section 2.3 New remote services
Broadband communication technologies are already available. They can sustain
advanced services to support people with disabilities and elderly people. Relay
services, virtual communities, enhanced communication, etc., are being successfully
tested in a number of countries. The section entitled "Novel broadband-based
services: new opportunities for people with disabilities" describes seven trials of
advanced broadband-based support services, conducted by the National Post and
Telecom Agency in Sweden (Post- och telestyrelsen, PTS), to test the validity of
current and future broadband telecommunications services in providing remote
support that is tuned to the needs of specific groups of people with disabilities.
Relay services usually act as communication mediators between users, one of
whom at least has a disability that prevents them from using standard
communication devices or services. These services are able to translate from signs-
to-voice (and vice versa), from text-to-voice (and vice versa), etc. They can also
provide other services such as the description of a received image to a blind
person. Some pre-existent relay services may be enhanced, universalised and made
less expensive by means of the currently available advanced telecommunication
technologies. The section entitled "Access to video relay services through the
pocket Interpreter (3G) and Internet (IP)" presents two experiences developed by
the Swedish National Post and Telecom Agency: The IP access project, a video
telephony relay service based on IP and the pocket interpreter for mobile video
communication, both for signing deaf people.
Efficient use of relay services requires that a number of steps be closely followed
in order to speed up the service. The section entitled "Convenient invocation of
relay services" describes the best way to invoke various relay services currently
existing in Sweden. These experiences may be taken as examples of good practice
that help optimise the design of the access to future relay services.
The rise of Short Message Services (SMS) tied to the expansion of mobile
telephony, is frequently associated in our minds to young people. Short messages
are cheaper than voice calls and don’t require that both interlocutors are
simultaneously engaged. Nevertheless, SMS can be also useful for other groups of
the population. A remarkable application of SMS is shown in section "Ways of
6
2. Current examples of existing products and services for
people with disabilities
using mobile telephones by people with dementia", revealing that elderly people
with cognitive restrictions can take advantage of this technology for verbal, text or
symbol communication and support.
SMS technology is also used in the "Implementation of an SMS-based emergency
service in Finland" to allow not only deaf people, but any other user, to contact the
universal 112 emergency service sending emergency text messages. After making
contact the user receives an acknowledgement message and can be located for
assistance.
Section 2.4 Evolution of text telephony
Text telephony is currently the basic means of communication for many people
with disabilities, such as deaf people. The technology supporting mobile telephony
does not allow the extension of traditional text telephony. For this reason, many
users substitute mobile text telephony by the use of SMS messages, but they do
not allow full interactive communication, hence the need to develop novel mobile
text telephony services.
Since the next generation of text telephony in Europe is under development, it is
necessary to establish basic design guidelines that guarantee the quality of the
service. "The recommendations of the Nordic countries regarding functionality for
text telephony" section compiles criteria that include mobility, interoperability,
continuity, accessibility from the internet, and availability of relay services.
Diverse experiences have been developed to provide mobile text telephony
through the access to internet servers. The section entitled "Mobile & IP-based text
telephony" shows the deployment of such a service in Sweden, while "Mobile text
telephony based on GPRS communications" explains the results obtained by a
Spanish project.
Section 2.5 User participation in technology
With the attraction of a growing market, there is a greater likelihood that more and
more companies will be marketing devices in the near future that can be accessed
by elderly people and/or people with disabilities. Since these concepts can be
interpreted in diverse ways, consumers may find that devices advertised as fully
accessible, straightforward and easy to use, do not really fulfil their needs. It is
within this context that the availability of functional specifications of terminals
becomes essential, so that products can be checked and certified in order to give
to the customer a guarantee of the appropriateness of a given product or service
7
2. Current examples of existing products and services for
people with disabilities
in relation to his or her needs. The section entitled "Functional specification for
terminal procurement" presents an example of good practice from Sweden in what
will become an important area for the future.
8
2.2. New technologies to help people with disabilities
and elderly people
2.2 New technologies to help people with disabilities
and elderly people
2.2.1 Safe navigation with wireless technology
Jan-Ingvar Lindström
Background
How can I be sure to find my way? Can I walk safely here? What happens if I get
lost? Do I dare to try a new route? What if I suddenly fall ill and need help? The
lack of good answers to these and similar questions have prevented a number of
vulnerable people to move around in outdoor as well as indoor environments
which they are not familiar with.
And who is not vulnerable? Basically, all of us sometimes are in need for help
because we have lost our way or feel unsafe or have made a mistake in our way-
finding effort. Among us, however, are people who feel more at risk than others,
not least people with various kinds of disabilities. And among these, people with
visual disabilities and those who suffer from cognitive impairments have expressed
strong interest in finding solutions to overcome their problems.
Historically, blindness and partial sight have inspired engineers and psychologists
to find solutions to way-finding problems for these groups, both in terms of
personal navigation aids and landmarks in the environment. Early on, the long
cane became a well known attribute to blind pedestrian’s navigation, and later
efforts have been made to improve the cane by adding remote sensors. Examples
are laser emitting diodes end sensors, magnetic field probes and – most recently –
RFID1 detecting devices. Other ideas have been to simulate bat’s navigation
technique, i.e. the development of various kinds of ultra sonic devices to scan the
environment and get some idea of what it looks like.
The common denominator for all these examples has been the individual
characteristics of the solutions. Also, they only provide information about the very
near environment.
Given these historical facts, over the last few decades, navigation problems of
other groups have been acknowledged. An example is the large group of people
with cognitive impairments, including e.g. those with dyslexia, mental disabilities,
dementia and stroke, but also people with mobility problems, including wheel chair
1 Radio Frequency Identification
9
2.2. New technologies to help people with disabilities
and elderly people
users. The problems here are wide ranging from being able to read and understand
a map or remember information to learning in advance about obstacles, on-going
road works and similar matters. Even people who are deaf or hard-of-hearing have
experienced great problems in moving from their home to e.g. a school or working
site by public transport as so much information is given about changes in time
tables and alternative means of transport, etc., has been given orally. Slow
improvements have come about in society as much information has successively
been given both as voice information and presented on visual displays. These
solutions, however, have been generic, and not been of much help to people who
suffer from dementia, mental disabilities and other cognitive disorders.
A break through came about with the installation of the American Global
Positioning System – GPS, that has been used since the late 1980s for positioning
purpose, mainly as a tool for finding the way for car drivers and boat and aircraft
navigation. As it will be discussed later, the GPS system per se does of course not
solve the problems displayed above, but it forms a basis for further development
that can lead to powerful tools for all groups with significant navigation problems.
Positioning, orientation, navigation, communication
and localization
Mobility outdoors
Knowing one’s position is important, but not enough for safe moving around in an
unknown environment. A system should also make it possible for users to orientate
themselves, i.e. to know in which direction they are standing in relation to, for
example, the points of the compass, to navigate independently, i.e. be able to move
from one given position to another, and also if necessary, raise an alarm or
communicate with an information or alarm centre for personal support and
assistance. It should also be possible, for those who so wish, to be found without
having to consciously trigger a localization function themselves.
Positioning
Satellite systems
The most widely used and available system – the GPS system – is based on the
use of radio signals transmitted from satellites orbiting the Earth and with whose
assistance it is possible, with the use of special receivers, to get a position on the
10
2.2. New technologies to help people with disabilities
and elderly people
Earth's surface in the form of coordinates. This kind of reference can be
transformed into, for example, an indication on an electronic map on a GPS
receiver. This can be linked to a mobile telephone, handheld computer or the like.
At present there are two existing systems in use: the American GPS (Global
Positioning System) and the Russian GLONASS (Global Navigation System). The
latter does not have any marketing in Europe and is currently being extensively
updated. For many years, a system has been planned in Europe known by the
working name Galileo. This system is designed to be well-adapted for European
environments in particular. However, it is still presently at the development phase
and will not be fully accessible until 2008 at the earliest.
GPS is designed to provide the best possible coverage some hundred miles north
and south of the equator. This means that the further north and south one goes,
the worse coverage one gets with GPS owing to the satellites all appearing to lie
rather close to the horizon.
In it simplest form, GPS provides a positioning accuracy of some tens of meters.
However, there is an extensive system of terrestrial stations that can take care of
and process signals before they are received in the individual GPS receiver. This is
known as Differential GPS or DGPS. With such support, it is possible to get down
to an accuracy of just a few meters. In principle, it is possible to achieve even
greater accuracy in this way (to within centimetres) but, for various reasons, it is
not practically feasible for the navigation application in question. One reason is
that access is not available everywhere to the terrestrial stations required for
processing the signal. Another reason is that it may take up an unacceptably long
time to process the signal – sometimes several seconds, which is too long in a real
orientation situation.
Another possibility is Assisted GPS – AGPS – which can be used in situations where
the signals from the satellites are too weak. This may be appropriate indoors, but
also outdoors under less favourable circumstances. Examples of such
circumstances are when only a small number of satellites can be reached or when
moving around on narrow streets surrounded by high buildings or other similar
environments – the so called canyon-effect.
It should be pointed out in this context that GPS receivers with much greater
sensitivity than before – iGPS – are now starting to come onto the market, which
may allow navigation with sufficiently good precision even in environments that
are currently problematic from a radio perspective2.
2 www.gpsworld.com and www.esa.int/esa websites can be consulted for more information about GPS, DGPS and AGPS.
11
2.2. New technologies to help people with disabilities
and elderly people
Mobile telephone cells
A less precise, but not uninteresting method is what’s called 'Cell Global Identity',
CGI. This is based on the possibility to register and identify the communication
between a telephone and its activated base stations. There is consequently a
technical possibility to determine the approximate position of a particular mobile
telephone at any given moment. However, the technology is far too imprecise and
is not yet adequately established to be of interest in the present context.
The utilization of GPS and CGI results in some form of coordinate references. These
are only meaningful if they can be related to reality in the form of an appropriate
map reference. Accordingly, access to maps and an appropriate user interface is
necessary. This must be available in several alternative designs in order to adapt to
the user's special capacities, for example people with visual impairments, people
with reading and writing difficulties, people with cognitive problems and people
with intellectual disabilities.
Landmarks
A landmark means here some kind of identifiable point in the surroundings that
one can relate to in order to determine ones position. Such points are virtually
everywhere for people who have sight and full control of their surroundings – it
may be a familiar sign, a church tower or a distinctive large tree.
For people with visual impairments, different kinds of acoustic landmarks (sound
beacons) have been tested for position determination. Examples are the ticking
devices at pedestrian crossings that both confirm a position and to some extent
guide the user to the post. Among the more exotic ones are recorded bird’s songs
used in Japan!
Today, there are various technical possibilities to provide this kind of guidance:
• One is based on Bluetooth technology. This means that small radio
transmitters are positioned at strategic points in the environment. When one
approaches such a transmitter carrying an appropriate receiver, pre-recorded
information will be read out, which could include anything from advertising
to the identification of, for example, a bus stop. Bluetooth transmitters need
an energy supply in the form of, for example, an integral battery
• Another technology is based on what is called RFID – Radio Frequency
Identification. This is based on a passive or active radio circuit that transmits
information when approached by a special combination of transmitter and
receiver. As the fixed transmitter normally is passive, it does not need to
have its own energy supply
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2.2. New technologies to help people with disabilities
and elderly people
• A third possibility is WLAN – Wireless Local Area Network – which are local,
radio-based networks that send information to, for example, a mobile
telephone or PDA about what is located in the vicinity.
All these systems have pros and cons for the user.
• The WLAN concept provides a rather inaccurate position determination if
not calibrated at the spot where it is intended to offer positioning
capabilities. It is most appropriate for information about, for example, what
a shopping centre offers in the form of shops and connections for adjacent
public transport. It is consequently more of an information system than a
positioning system
• Bluetooth technology is significantly more precise from a positioning
perspective, but it still allows quite a number of meters of deviation without
'losing' the receiver. To bear in mind is that Bluetooth technology does not
support information concerning direction or relative distance between the
user and the Bluetooth unit, but merely if a user is within range
• The RFID circuit is the most accurate, often functioning at very short
distances – in the region of a few decimetres.
WLAN and Bluetooth technology are already commercially available and have
been implemented in various contexts, while the most common usage of RFID
applications is in logistics. All have the advantage of functioning both indoors and
outdoors. The disadvantage is that they require varying degrees of attention and
maintenance.
Where there is a risk of radio black spot, the possibility of using landmarks like
RFID, Bluetooth and WLAN for secure navigation indoors and outdoors should be
considered.
Orientation
Some kind of compass is required for orientation. A traditional type of magnetic
compass, i.e. a needle compass, can of course be used, but this is not particularly
practical, especially for people with visual impairments. In this context, it would
probably be more practical to have a magnetic field sensor and presentation in a
visual or acoustic form. However, all magnetic compasses are affected by fields of
magnetic disturbance – a strong deviation may be directly misleading and thereby
be dangerous for the user. A more secure way is to make use of 'inertial navigation'
in some form, but accessible systems are voluminous, expensive and require a lot
13
2.2. New technologies to help people with disabilities
and elderly people
of power. A further possibility is to utilize the compass function offered by the GPS
system. The principle for this is that the system registers two consecutive points
and calculates the angle between the points on the basis of these measurements,
which in general is the same as the angle of travel. However the disadvantage is
that this only functions when one is moving. It is consequently not possible to start
from a given point and at that point determine which direction one is facing.
At present, the GPS system offers the best opportunities available for direction
orientation while moving and an integral digital compass function in a handheld
unit when stationary.
Navigation
The GPS system constitutes the basis for navigation, i.e. support to move from
point A to point B. The simplest form of navigation means that one receives almost
continuous backup support – visually or acoustically – in the form of appropriate
road descriptions. However, this can also mean information about what is available
on the route during the journey, in the form of ancillary information, for example
the shops that are available in the vicinity and the range of products that they offer.
These facilities will probably use local transmitters based on, for example,
Bluetooth technology, RFID or WLAN.
How the system is used can vary according to need. In g