Pending the production of devices equipped with 3D cameras (and operating on the same principle as autonomous cars), the blind and visually impaired have great difficulty moving around alone in urban areas.
Viknesh, a Parisian afflicted with visual impairment since he was 4 years old, testifies to this by inviting us to an “immersive journey” in the capital…
Avoid the terraces and watch for the "sound fires"
When he has to travel, Viknesh first consults his smartphone: “I take it to look at the route I have to take.
It allows me to be a little more independent, ”he says.
All that remains is to reach the appropriate bus stop or metro entrance… but “the problem with Parisian sidewalks is that they have a lot of terraces, things like that that are like barriers;
so it's not as simple as that!
".
The trickiest thing is obviously crossing a street.
Fortunately, Paris has a few "sound lights" and some passers-by or public transport users spontaneously offer their help to Viknesh: "We accept or we decline, comments the young man, but in any case, the gesture is there, and it's that's the most important thing."
Join him on one of his outings in this video from our partner Brut.
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Ile-de-France