For sufferers of visually-disorientation, epilepsy, Parkinson's and Huntington, reliable information is the key to feel reassured and autonomous in urban environments. Therefore, the need for devices such as ANGEO2, which provides easy access to urban areas, is very strong. ANGEO2 includes multimodal guidance functions mixing walking with real time bus, tram and metro public transportation information.
The project
The French SME Navocap launched its subsidiary Angeo Technology in 2008 and eventually secured EU support under the ANGEO2 project in 2015, with the objective to improve the ANGEO kit and bring it to smartphones. ANGEO2 comes in the form of a module that can be connected to any smartphone application requiring reliable positioning. The module comprises a reliable positioning unit (RPU), as well as a navigation app of its own, available on the App Store and called Angeo-NAV.
Edgard Antoine, CEO of Navocap, explains that in order to calculate itineraries, ANGEO2 uses a specific algorithm that takes into account street width, the need for multimodal routes (pedestrian, bus, tram, metro, etc.) and the personal preferences of visually-impaired people wanting to avoid major roads.
How does it work
Edgard Antoine explains that the RPU connects to the smartphone via Bluetooth, and it can be attached to the user’s belt. A remote control pinned to the shirt collar allows for keeping the hand of the user free from any burden, and an earphone or bone conduction headphones can complete the kit in particularly noisy environments. The user can communicate with the device by using Apple’s 'Voice Over' speech synthesis and recognition application dedicated to visually-impaired users.
Commercialisation
If all tests go according to plan, a commercial launch is expected in June 2018. The first-generation of the ANGEO kit including GPS receiver, inertial unit and cellular modem can already be purchased.