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For people who are blind or visually impaired, navigating the insides of large buildings can be daunting: Many rooms, floors, hallways and obstacles make life difficult.
Earlier this year, Portland State University teamed up with GoodMaps, a Louisville, Ky., tech company, and Intel to bring a new internal mapping app to the school’s cavernous Smith Memorial Student Union.
Lillian Goodman, 24, who just graduated from PSU with a degree in business administration, says the app is a game changer.
Goodman, who began losing her sight shortly after she was born, uses a guide dog to help her get around. She says there are a number of apps that can help her navigate the city, calling out landmarks and street names. But until GoodMaps began using a form of imaging called lidar to map interiors, her options were to reach for Braille placards on the wall of each room or ask others for help.
Now, in buildings such as the student union, Goodman can tell the app where she wants to go. She holds her smartphone vertically, and drawing on the mapping GoodMaps has done, the app provides specific directions to her destination.
“As time goes on and they fine-tune the app, it’s going to make a big difference for people who are blind and visually impaired on campus,” Goodman says. “It will be one less stressor and source of frustration. It has the potential to be really great.”