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Waymap aims to expand travel options for blind and visually
impaired people with step-by-step audio directions that it says
are accurate up to 3 feet (0.9 meter) throughout a trip.
The app does not use GPS and can operate regardless of cellphone
signal strength indoors or outdoors. It loads detailed mapping
data onto a smartphone and uses motion sensors on the phone to
offer precise directions.
Advocates for the blind, Washington's transit system Metro,
Verizon Communications, which provided support through its
start-up accelerator program, and the app's founder will tout
the launch in Washington at a Tuesday news conference.
"Mobility is not a luxury,” said Waymap founder and CEO Tom Pey,
who is blind and argues other apps are not precise enough. "It
is, in fact, a human right."
Blind travelers often use a small number of routes from home
because they are relying on memory to get around and they lack
confidence, Pey said.
"Instead of 2.5 routes you can do 25 routes, 250 routes," Pey
said. "This will allow more people to become more independent -
not to have to rely on family and friends - and use public
transport like everyone else."
Waymap will be deployed in phases with the goal of deploying the
app at up to 30 Metro train stations and nearly 1,000 bus stops
by September and across the entire Metro system by early 2023.
"It’s part of our mission to make Metro accessible to all people
at every walk of life," said Metro CFO Dennis Anosike.
Pey hopes other people in Washington without visual disabilities
will eventually use the app to help refine directions and
improve the maps. "You're actually donating your steps to a
blind person," Pey said.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Robert Birsel)
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