A university campus can be intimidating to first step foot on when you’re navigating your way to class. Now an app called BlindSquare for blind and low vision people is helping ease that experience at the University of Guelph campus.
The app works through a series of QR codes posted in key locations inside campus buildings like washrooms, gym, classrooms, etc.
For instance if you open up the app and scan the code the app audibly gives details to the user. If it is a washroom it will say the gender, where the door handle is, the lock, paper towel, sink, toilet and trash can be located using a clock reference system.
“They were very active in the pursuit of accessibility for the campus and also very active and in support of autonomy and independence for people who are blind,” said Rob Nevin, manager and partner of MIPsoft, the company who owns BlindSquare.
The technology has existed in the university since 2017 and has expanded every year since to include all buildings on campus. The U of G was the first university in Canada to install the wayfinding technology on its campus.
Nevin said approximately 25 students and five to 10 faculty members use BlindSquare.
All the buildings on campus have their entrances identified on the app with 400 points of interest marked with QR codes inside the buildings.
Nevin took a GuelphToday staff member on a tour of the W.F. Mitchell Athletics Centre using the BlindSquare app.
He explained how to use the QR code for one of the washrooms. The washroom sign also had braille to identify it but Nevin said it’s not always helpful because less than 10 per cent of blind people read braille.
When the QR code is initiated, the app plays a flushing sound to identify it as a washroom.
“There’s keen interest about washrooms. Not only where they exist and that they exist but what’s the gender,” said Nevin. A friend of his who is blind, lives in New Zealand and expressed they don’t know how many times they have walked into the wrong washroom.
The Guelph Lions Club gave $48,000 in funding to expand the BlindSquare system across campus.
There are beacons installed in the buildings and the low-energy signals from the beacons are picked up by users' phones. The app voices locations, directions and information about the building.
“The truth of blindness is it’s not a limit to the intellect of the person,” said Nevin. “It’s simply the separation of information conveyed by light. What we do is provide the opportunity to push back the darkness and provide illuminating information in a packet that makes sense.”
BlindSquare received a message from a user in the Ukraine who hoped they could get a discount on the app for users in Ukraine. The one-time cost of the app is $54.99 Canadian dollars. BlindSquare is now free for blind Ukrainians in the country and 21 countries surrounding Ukraine.
Nevin said for some users the app has helped them navigate their surroundings when they are waiting to acquire a guide dog.
“Our mission that we reach with success is to change lives of people who are blind,” said Nevin.