Greg Stilson, product manager for Braille and GPS at Humanware, joins us to talk about the updated version of the Trekker Breeze GPS device. Greg discusses the hardware and a few of the new features found in the Trekker Breeze Plus, as well as the ability for existing Breeze users to upgrade to the latest unit, to be released within the next couple months. For specific information on the Trekker Breeze Plus, visit http://www.humanware.com/breeze
Be sure to check our audio page for more exhibit hall coverage, and check out our new weekly podcast for news and features about technology and beyond. Blind Bargains audio coverage of CSUN 2015 is generously sponsored by the American Foundation for the Blind. Enjoying our coverage of CSUN15? You can help us out by taking this very short survey.
Transcript
We strive to provide an accurate transcription, though errors may occur.
Hide transcriptTranscribed by Kayde Rieken
Welcome to BlindBargains.com coverage of CSUN 2015 — the biggest names, provocative interviews, and wall-to-wall exhibit hall coverage — brought to you by the American Foundation for the Blind.
The Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness is an essential professional resource and the journal of record on issues related to blindness and vision loss. Subscribe now and get immediate access to news from the field, current research and best practice information, and a calendar of events. For more information, go to www.jvib.org.
Joe Steinkamp: Hey, everyone. It's Joe Steinkamp from the weekly Blind Bargains podcast, and I want to invite everybody to come on over to BlindBargains.com, check our audio page, and listen to the archives of the weekly show when you get a chance. We've got all sorts of interesting things up there. We've talked to Shelly Brisbin about iOS Access for All. We've done some demonstrations of the talking Comcast DVR. And somehow, J did not burn the house down when he was demonstrating a sandwich maker. All that and more on our weekly show. Remember, you can find that in iTunes; you can also subscribe to it on your Victor Reader Stream in the Humanware Preferred playlist. Hey, you could even hear it on the Amazon Echo through TuneIn. So definitely check us out on the weekly show on BlindBargains.com.
Now, here's J.J. Meddaugh.
J.J. Meddaugh: We are here at CSUN 2015 with Greg Stilson. He is the product manager for Braille and GPS for Humanware and talking about a new Trekker Breeze. Yes, you heard right — the Trekker Breeze is back. Greg, welcome back to Blind Bargains.
Greg Stilson: Oh, thanks for having me on, J.J.
JM: So this came out of nowhere. So what do you call — this is the Breeze Plus?
GS: Yeah. So — (Laughs) it's a — we — we sent out sort of a — a marketing teaser this morning basically talking about a — a new product that's going to be available shortly; and it's basically a new generation of — of Trekker Breeze. So to give you kind of the — the sneak peek of what's coming, we're going to be looking to — probably shipping here in the next couple months. But basically what we're doing is updating the Breeze hardware. And the — the focus here was, we — we did a — a huge analysis with our existing Breeze users. The Breeze came out back in — what was it? 2009, I want to say? Something like that.
JM: At least, yeah.
GS: Yeah, 2009, I think. And the product, at the time, was — was a bit before its time. There wasn't a whole lot of cell phone GPS going on at the time. It was a — really the — one of the first handheld talking GPSs for people with visual impairments. And —
JM: Right. At that time, it was either that or Sendero on the BrailleNote. That's about it. Maybe something on a Nokia phone, if you were the half percent that had that, but that's about all that was out there.
GS: Yeah, exactly. And so when we were talking to people who had purchased the Breeze, quite honestly, there was a — there was a time when we were kind of saying, You know what? Cell phones are starting to become really popular, and, you know, with — with the different apps that are out there and everything like that — and we — we went to the people who were using the Breeze; and we said, Why are you choosing to use the Breeze over using a cell phone with an app and things like that? And the response was overwhelming. It was the — the dedicated interface that the Breeze had and, primarily, the tactile interface, the fact that we're using physical buttons that can all be operating — that you can operate with one hand. And that's one thing that they — they kept saying over and over again, was that, you know, I — I constantly have to stop to do swipe gestures on my phone or, you know, three-finger swipe or whatever. And it wasn't nearly as — as seamless while they were moving. And — myself, I have a — I have an iPhone. I — I use many of the mapping applications. But when I think about why I valued the — the Breeze, it was because everything was kind of seamless. You could walk around and just hit one button to — to get a sense of where you were. And even — even then, you didn't need a lot of response. You'd be able to just kind of walk seamlessly and hear where you were. What we're doing with the Breeze Plus is that — the feedback was that the GPS, because it was developed in 2009, it just wasn't up to the expectations that were being set out today.
JM: Sure.
GS: And I want to clarify that the — the expectations that are out today are based on cell phones, and a standalone GPS device will never be as — the term in GPS is "always-on," meaning that, because GPS — the way that cell phones are doing it is based on both — or all three — GPS, Wi-Fi, and cell — cell connections — so LTE, 3G, that kind of stuff — all kind of working in simultaneous cohesiveness to be able to always have a GPS signal and to — to have, you know, an accurate GPS signal. What we're using is — is straight-up GPS technology, which is the same stuff that's used in, like, the Garmins and things like that that are in the cars. So having said that, the first feedback that we got from people was that, you know, they wanted a faster GPS acquisition time. When you turn on the — the Breeze — and — and not everybody had this, but some people would report — especially in urban canyon environments like New York City, L.A., that kind of stuff — it would take anywhere from one to five minutes, sometimes, to get GPS acquisition.
JM: Well, there's lots more hardware available that you couldn't even get at in 2008 or 2009, though.
GS: Exactly. Exactly. So that — that's really the benefit that we have today, is that we're able to tap into some of that mainstream GPS technology that's being used in cell phones and being used in — in cars and things like that, and really optimize where we are today. And so the feedback that we got was, everybody loved the interface. Everybody loved the software. They loved how easy it was able to be not only used, but adopted by both orientation and mobility people and actual blind users. Basically, what we're doing is, we're — we're keeping the shell of the Breeze all the same. So the — the hardware is — is going to look the same. The key infrastructure is going to look the same. What we're doing is, we're swapping out the GPS internals.
JM: Sure.
GS: So the benefit here is that, if you've been a Breeze user — you've ever used a Breeze — the software usage, the — the way you interact with the device, is not going to change. You'll — you'll immediately know how to use it. What you'll see is a — a huge benefit to the way that it's being used when you're actually outside. So just to give you an example, in the past, I've never been able to get GPS reception in my house at all with the — with the Trekker Breeze.
JM: Right. Where modern GPS software and cell phones — a lot of them — would.
GS: Exactly. And — and some of that's related to the LTE technology that they use and things like that, but even if you're getting GPS and you don't have a — an Internet connection, sometimes Google Maps will still put you on — you know, at least give you a GPS connection or something.
JM: Right.
GS: What we're seeing now is that, inside my house, I'm — I'm able to turn it on, and if — if I'm anywhere near a window, within 30 seconds inside I'm able to get a GPS connection, no problem. What we're seeing now is that, once you're outside and you turn on the device — I'll give you an example. I — I came to CSUN a couple years ago, and I was doing some Breeze demonstrations; and I remember that when I first landed and I turned it on in the cab, it took probably up to five minutes to get a GPS connection when I was in the cab.
JM: After switching cities.
GS: Exactly, after switching cities.
JM: Right.
GS: I got out of the cab after coming from freezing cold Wisconsin, and I turned on the — the Breeze; and within 22 seconds, I had a GPS connection. And I had never used the California map. I had never — this was the first time —
JM: Sure.
GS: — I had ever loaded it. So it's pretty much — our goal is to be on par with what your traditional Garmin would be if you use it in a car or something like that. And the reality is that — so there's three major benefits for the user. One is GPS acquisition time that we talked about.
JM: Right.
GS: The second is GPS stability. So another report that — that our current Breeze users said is that — you know, I could be using the Breeze, and then, you know, I'll encounter a certain place where I'll lose GPS reception. It'll say "GPS lost" or something like that. And then it takes a while to get that — get that back. And it can be because of a number of things. Urban canyon environments are — are notorious for that. This new device — I've been testing it since November of last year, and I've never lost GPS acquisition at all — or GPS stability at — at any point. We are using Waze connections in — in places where we do have that available. One of our testers is in New York City. She reported to me that, with the old Breeze, she was never able to get GPS acquisition at all in her high-rise; and she said within 30 seconds of turning on the Breeze Plus, she was able to get a connection when it was sitting right by her window in — in her high-rise, which was fantastic.
JM: All right.
GS: And so — and then the third one is GPS accuracy. Accuracy, as you can tell — you know, it's been six years, essentially, since — since we've launched the original Trekker Breeze; and so there was — from an accuracy perspective, there's been leaps and bounds that have taken place since then. And so what we saw at times was that, you know, you could drop a landmark and, you know, walk back to it; and it would trigger maybe 30, 40, 50 feet away from it sometimes.
JM: Mm-hmm.
GS: Now, I'm seeing situations where I'll drop a landmark at the end of my driveway, and I'll, you know, go on a walk and come back; and in — it's less than five feet from —
JM: Okay.
GS: — from triggering that. So really, really useful, especially in college campuses for students who are, you know, in open areas and things like that who want to drop landmarks in front of their different buildings. It'll lead you much more closely to where you originally dropped that landmark.
JM: Okay. So you have the improved GPS chip and, obviously, lots of benefits there, as you mentioned. Anything else as far as, like, a faster processor, Wi-Fi chip, or anything like — else as far as internal?
GS: No, we — we didn't need to really beef up the processor that much — at that point. It's really — the points were specifically on the GPS quality, is what we got from — from the feedback.
JM: Okay.
GS: Now, with this, we will be launching a new software update as well, which will have a couple new features.
JM: Will that only work on the newer Trekker?
GS: No. It'll work on both.
JM: Okay.
GS: Yep. So — and then, in addition, we will be updating to 2015 GPS maps.
JM: So what kind of features will be in the — the new software?
GS: So the cool things there is — in the current Breeze, you have a situation where you'll be walking around and — we see this a lot with college campuses that I mentioned before, where you get — some college campuses, you walk closer to the street than you do, maybe, an open area. So what'll happen sometimes is, you'll be walking, and what you want to be is an — an open area being routed to, say, your computer science building or something like that. And you're, you know, kind of hitting the "Where am I" button to make sure that you're on the right track and the distance is going down and everything else. Then what would happen is, you'd get shifted over to street map data. So now, all of a sudden, it would say, "Well, you're on University Avenue," which gives you totally different instructions. You're no longer in an open area. So a lot of the feedback that we got, from both users and O&M instructors, was that they wanted to be able to manually choose whether they're going to be in open area or whether they're going to be on the street map data. So we've done that.
JM: Okay.
GS: We — we're actually doing a — a lock-in-place where, if you're in open area, you can lock yourself directly into open area and only get as-the-crow-flies instructions. And then, if you want to go back on street map data, you can unlock that, and it'll switch you back over there. And then the other feature — big feature — that's going to be there is something that kind of sounds like it should have been there all along. (Laughs) But it's side of street detection. It's in most modern GPSs today.
JM: Right.
GS: But before, what would happen is, you'd get to the destination; and it would say, "Destination arrived." End of story.
JM: Where? (Laughs)
GS: Yeah. (Laughs) Now — now —
JM: Somewhere nearby.
GS: J.J., you and I, as blind guys, we're like, Okay. (Laughs)
JM: Right here.
GS: So —
JM: Especially if it's a big road, you want to — you don't want to —
GS: Yeah.
JM: — play — play Frogger with the road —
GS: Yeah.
JM: — try to figure it out.
GS: I would prefer not to cross six lanes of traffic if I don't have to, so —
JM: Right.
GS: Anyway, you'll arrive, and it'll say destination, right or left side, so —
JM: Sure.
GS: And then, as I said, the — the new updated maps will be available as well; and both the software and the new maps will be free for any Breeze user that's — that's using it.
JM: As far as current Breeze user — is — is there a way they could send their unit in and get the newer GPS chip, or —
GS: There is. I'm glad you asked that. (Laughs) So we will be offering an upgrade plan. Pricing is currently getting finalized, but I — all I can say right now is that it — it will be cost-efficient for a — a Breeze user today, somebody who bought it, say, in 2011 or whatever else. We wanted to make sure that you — you keep using the product that you love as — as efficiently as you can. So there will be a — a cost-effective way for you to do that, and it will just be a — a matter of shipping your device that us. We'll do the changes, and then we'll ship them back.
JM: Are you saying it — it's going to matter when you bought your Breeze —
GS: No.
JM: — as far as the upgrade price?
GS: No, absolutely not.
JM: Oh, okay. Okay.
GS: No, no, no. I'm just saying, if you bought —
JM: Sure.
GS: I used 2011 as an example.
JM: Got you. So no matter when you bought it.
GS: No. Whenever you bought it. You could have bought the first Breeze off the shelf, if you wanted, and as long as the internals — meaning the — you know, for example, if your speaker's broken or something like that, then that wouldn't be fixed with doing the swap or the — the GPS upgrade kind of thing. But if your device is in — in working condition, you can send —
JM: Is —
GS: — you can send it to us and we'll swap it out.
JM: Is that going to be all handled in Canada? I know some people have issues with shipping — you know, some of the — the shipping costs as far as doing warranty replacement and upgrade service.
GS: Now, as far as I know, what's going to happen is, you will ship your device. And when I say you ship it, what we're going to do is, we'll set up a — a UPS pickup for you or we'll send you a UPS label.
JM: So that'll be a part of the cost.
GS: It'll be a part of the cost. Exactly.
JM: Okay.
GS: So this is all going to be built in. Basically, you're absolutely right that we didn't want people messing around with the international shipping. We'll handle that all on our end. You either need to be there when the UPS guy gets there, or if — what we'll do is we'll send you a PDF that you can print out and just stick to the — the box.
JM: Okay. And so the release date — within the next couple months? Or do you have pricing for the — the newer version? I think it'd be about the same, or —
GS: We don't. Yeah, it's going to be close. I don't know exactly what it's going to be, but it's going to be close to what it is today. The — the pricing for the upgrade I'm still — we're still finalizing. We are a global company, so it's not just U.S.
JM: Yep.
GS: We're — we're finalizing all over.
JM: All right.
GS: But it will be, like I said, in the next couple months. We're excited to — this is — you know, it's — it's funny because we did an analysis with all the — the GPS devices that are out there; and we said, You know, is there still a need for a — a talking GPS because there are so many alternatives out there. And I can tell you this is one that's really near and dear to my heart. It was something that — that I really pushed Humanware to do, and I —
JM: Well, you obviously feel there's enough customers and enough demand to keep —
GS: Absolutely.
JM: — down this path.
GS: Absolutely. Yep. And I — I see a lot of value, especially with blind people needing to be independent. Because one of the things that — that I — I've noticed, even just as my own — as — as a user myself — is that if you have a device like this, it reassures you. It gives that — gives you that reassurance in a new city — you know, I've — I've been to San Diego before. I sure as heck don't remember where certain restaurants are —
JM: Yeah.
GS: — or whatever. But just the fact that I can drop a landmark in front of the hotel here gives me the reassurance that I can walk pretty much anywhere in the city and just set that landmark as a destination and get back. It gives you that sort of will to go out and be reassured that you can always get back. And I — I don't think that's something that you can take lightly at that point.
JM: Sure. One more purchase question quickly.
GS: Sure.
JM: If someone were to buy a Breeze now — or should they just wait a couple months, would you recommend? Or — or is there going to be a way to — to get that upgraded?
GS: That's something that — it's really — it's really up to the user. Quite honestly, there's — there's — as I said today, you know, there's some environments where people say, Oh, well, you know, it takes 30 to 40 seconds for me to get a connection and I'm good.
JM: Mm-hmm.
GS: There's some environments where there's not. Myself, I've — I've seen both ends of the coin. So it's — it's really up to you on how —
JM: Okay.
GS: — whether you need the latest and greatest and whether you want GPS independence at this point, you know.
JM: All right. We'll definitely watch out for more information as it comes out. Where can people follow up and get the latest information?
GS: Absolutely. So you can go to Humanware.com. If you want to go to — directly to the Breeze page, it's Humanware.com/breeze. And we'll be sending out more marketing information here in the next month or so to get more information out there. There will also be some specific FAQs for — for existing Breeze users and how to get that process underway if you want to get your device upgraded.
JM: All right. Thank you so much, Greg. Thanks for sharing.
GS: Yeah, no worries.
For more exclusive audio coverage, visit BlindBargains.com or download the Blind Bargains app for your iOS or Android device.
Blind Bargains audio coverage is presented by the AT Guys, online at ATGuys.com.
This has been another Blind Bargains audio podcast. Visit BlindBargains.com for the latest deals, news, and exclusive content. This podcast may not be retransmitted, sold, or reproduced without the express, written permission of AT Guys. Copyright 2015.
Listen to the File
File size: 22.9MB
Length: 16:59
- Download the file
- Listen using our Enhanced Accessible Web Player
- Download our Blind Bargains Apps to listen from your phone or tablet
Check out our audio index for more exclusive content
Blind Bargains Audio RSS Feed
This content is the property of Blind Bargains and may not be redistributed without permission. If you wish to link to this content, please do not link to the audio files directly.
Category: Portable DevicesNo one has commented on this post.
You must be logged in to post comments.
Or Forgot username or password?
Register for free
J.J. Meddaugh is an experienced technology writer and computer enthusiast. He is a graduate of Western Michigan University with a major in telecommunications management and a minor in business. When not writing for Blind Bargains, he enjoys travel, playing the keyboard, and meeting new people.
