Standing at the entrance to the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library in D.C., Kevin Kline took out his phone and opened the GoodMaps app, seeking directions to a nearby café.
After a few seconds, the technology started to guide Kline, who is blind and works for GoodMaps. The app dictated directions through the phone’s speakers, and all Kline had to do was hold his phone up during the walk.
The D.C. Public Library has a subscription with the app, which provides users with step-by-step directions around one of its biggest libraries. Previously, the city said about two dozen people who are blind or have low vision asked for guides every week to help them get around. Now, that’s no longer necessary.
“This is a premier library, and it’s so large, it can be easy to get lost,” said Janice Samuel, who’s been using the technology. “For people who are blind and low vision, they can easily navigate without assistance. And everyone wants to be independent.”
The app, which is free and available for iPhone and Android users, relies on the phone’s camera to help assist with navigation. It scans walls and ceilings, and within three or four seconds, directs visitors within about 2 feet of wherever they want to go in the building.
The company, Kline said, did a lidar scan and takes 360-degree images of the building’s structure. While visitors use the app, the phone camera virtually compares what it sees to what’s been scanned, Kline said.
The MLK Memorial Library is the first to be included in the app, according to Shelby Singleton, assistive technology program coordinator with the library system. It was selected because of its size.
“There’s so much happening in this building, so many departments always having one event or another going on at this moment,” Singleton said. “Having the tool available where you don’t have to come in and do a new scan every time something changes, it’s just worked out really well.”
For Samuel, it’s helpful to not have to ask someone to guide her.
“Sometimes, people don’t want to come to places because they don’t know their way around, and this is something that can help them navigate,” Samuel said.
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