- The Le Havre company RightHear has set up a connected tool to help blind people find their way around on their own.
- A Bluetooth beacon sends information to a smartphone app.
- The device works outside and inside without a telephone network and has just been installed in a first establishment in Lille.
A technology to improve the daily life of the visually impaired. After a deployment in Rennes, the Le Havre company RightHear installed its first Lille beacon this Friday in a brasserie on Place de la Gare. This small connected object, coupled with an application for smartphones, must help blind or partially sighted people to find their way in public and private spaces, both outside and inside. Explanations.
“Thanks to the GPS on my phone, I have no problem getting to anywhere. It gets complicated once it happens, ”says Nicolas Karasiewicz, manager of a Lille integration society and blind from birth. Standing in front of the facade of the Les 3 Brasseurs restaurant in Lille, he explains that: “If I am not accompanied by a clairvoyant, I will have trouble finding the front door without asking for help. "
Find the front door, restroom or read a menu
Everything will change with the new device from RightHear. "This restaurant has a beacon that will send voice information to the phone of the visually impaired person as soon as it approaches," explains Olivier Albaz, founder of Le Havre society. The object is autonomous and works thanks to Bluetooth, which allows it to work even without a telephone network. The user of the application will only have to be guided. There are several levels of information, the first consisting of informing about the location and describing the equipment present nearby such as elevators, stairs, etc.
But the most interesting is elsewhere: “The application orally describes to me what is in the direction in which I point my phone. This allows in particular to find entry doors easily in buildings that have very wide facades ”, continues Nicolas. In cafes or restaurants, for example, the configuration of the beacon can indicate the direction of the toilet and even read the menu.
The mobile application is free for users. On the other hand, the establishment which wishes to install a beacon will have to pay an annual subscription of 200 euros. “We must not forget that the visually impaired are also consumers. The investment quickly pays for itself because it brings back customers and benefits from positive communication, ”insists Olivier Albaz.
This business and marketing aspect, not only Nicolas subscribes to it, but he encourages it: "it is without doubt the best argument to convince companies and merchants to install beacons. The goal is to equip as many places as possible so that the solution is really interesting, “insists the blind. After Les 3 Brasseurs, the concert hall, l'Aéronef, will invest in a RightHear beacon. "Each place welcoming human beings could set up this system so that the visually impaired can go everywhere independently," dreams the founder of RightHear. An endless market.
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- Mobile app
- Blinded
- Lille