Microsoft Australia Develops Soundscape App, Unique Audio Navigation for the Blind

Microsoft’s Australia division recently created Soundscape, an app that aids the blind in navigation via audio cues and artificial intelligence (AI). The app utilizes 3D audio and location to give users feedback of their surroundings to create a map of the environment. This app was created in partnership with Vision Australia, a charity group that supports those with visual impairments.

“We’ve partnered with Vision Australia as they understand the challenges that people who are blind or have low vision face every day,” said Microsoft Australia managing director, Steven Worrall. “We know that Vision Australia clients have seen huge benefits from the use of other Microsoft technologies and have contributed to making our tools more accessible.”

Soundscape allows users to create an audio beacon for a specific landmark or destination, allowing them to be able to keep track of this specific mark as a reference point. The app also names roads, landmarks, and intersections that the user passes when in use. The goal of the project is to allow those living with full or partial blindness to experience outdoor environments with heightened independence. It creates sounds that are perceived to be coming from the direction one desires to move to, giving users a better feel for their surroundings.

Rather than assisting the blind with turn by turn directions like other navigational apps available, Soundscape gives the user an appreciation of the space around them as they maneuver through it, letting them make their own directional choices while magnifying their overall experience. When used in concert with mobility aids such as dogs and canes, those with visual impairments can use this unique navigational app to travel through unfamiliar environments.

“Soundscape gives me confidence in an outside environment, by helping me understand what’s around me – whether it’s a restaurant, café, railway station, walking bike/track, park, business or even a street name,” said Vision Australia’s technology advisor David Woodbridge. “It allows me to build a mental map of my neighborhood.”

Soundscape aims to allow users to connect with their environment in a more natural manner without disruptions in completing other tasks at hand, rather than to replace traditional navigational aids. Microsoft’s AI division has been working extensively with Vision Australia’s Orientation and Mobility team over the past six months to bring the Soundscape system to life. The free app is now available for those with visual impairments to use on their smartphones.

“It’s our mission to continue to partner with organizations like Vision Australia to make technology more accessible to the four million Australians who live with disabilities every day and specifically to the 384,000 Australians who are blind or have no vision,” said Steven Worrall, managing director at Microsoft Australia.

In partnership with @visionaustralia, Microsoft is launching the Soundscape app to enable people with low or no vision to navigate their surroundings through 3D audio cues. https://t.co/QuW8OiKzA9 #soundscapeAU pic.twitter.com/bbCVaohw9o

— Microsoft Australia (@MicrosoftAU) September 12, 2018

Sources: HealthCare IT News, AV Interactive