By Andrew Liszewski
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I usually don’t like to write about concept devices, but every once in a while something comes along that I hope becomes a reality. Like the Peepo, which is essentially a GPS navigation device for the visually impaired who rely on a guide dog. So instead of attaching it to the dashboard of a car, the Peepo attaches to a guide dog’s handle, and instead of providing navigational feedback via an LCD display, the Peepo can steer someone who’s visually impaired via subtle vibrations felt in their fingertips.
It also features a handheld unit that uses voice recognition to set and confirm the destination, while the navigation directions are wirelessly communicated to the vibrating unit on the guide dog’s harness. Now unfortunately the Peepo isn’t available for sale just yet, but it’s currently one of the entries for the James Dyson Award which also features a ‘People’s Choice’ winner. So if you’d like to see this come to fruition, that’s probably a good place to start.
[ James Dyson Award – peepoGPS ] VIA [ Yanko Design ]
