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When blind people encounter a new place, such as a room, they can’t see what's in the way and what's dangerous. They need to walk around with a cane or an assistant and physically touch everything to get an idea of where things are. Walking around with a cane can be both time consuming and risky, so my app creates a “floor plan” from easily taken pictures. Now, a blind person can point an iPhone at a room, take a picture, and the app will auditorily describe the objects in the room. By moving their finger around the screen, a blind person can hear how far from each other things are. How far is the couch from the toaster oven (a burn hazard)? Or from the table? Is it to the left or to the right?

Tripping
Hot Surfaces
Time Intensive
Hazards

FAQ

Many blind and visually impaired people already own an iPhone or an Android phone - no new expense needed! A blind person can explore a real world space on their phone.

Very well! Using built-in programs called screen readers (e.g. VoiceOver), blind can use their phones through gestures and audio feedback on the screen. Apple describes it here.

Using my app, they can. Instead of requiring complicated angles, users can just hold their phone in front of their face and take a couple of pictures. The app stitches them together.

Through BISM, or Blind Industries & Services of Maryland (a rehabilitation center), I was able to review the app with multiple blind and visually impaired people. They all responded enthusiastically.

It is patent pending. You can read it here. My neighbor, Pete, is a lawyer. With his help, I was able to translate my app description into legalese.

No. While the App Store has apps that describe photos, they lack one key identifier: depth. Users cannot find out how far away different objects and where they are in relation to each other.

Sorry, but no. The app has yet to be released to the public on the App Store or Play Store. I am running the development version on my computer. Part of the image generation is done by 3DFlow Zephyr, which is publicly available.