A Map Platform For the Blind

Dynamic Braille For Navigation Purposes

Here's a handheld concept that converts visual map info into a touch-friendly format. The Drop GPS system by designer Allan Sejer Madsen and Lukasz Natkaniec acts like a Braille-driven compass designed to help the blind literally feel their way through city streets.

Raised dots indicate buildings, while flat surfaces represent the road. The tactile data updates constantly in relation to the center of the device, which symbolizes the user. The ring on the side of the device can be rotated, to zoom in or out, while a button at the center of the bottom controls power.

Before you go out and buy the Drop GPS for your blind friend, let's see if Masen or Natkaniec actually push to bring their design concept to retail. The system is also designed as a complement to a blind person's typical arsenal of navigation aids (like the cane of a seeing-eye dog), and is not meant to be a comprehensive solution.

GPS in a Hand Disk