Public travel can be daunting for many people. And it is easy to take some aspects of common activities for granted. Tarah Ornelas, Joe Ornelas, and Brandon Kley, ALL Cofounders of Confident Navigator, discuss with J.J. the challenges that come from providing this service in a public space. To learn more, visit the Confident Navigator website
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Transcript
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Hide transcriptTranscribed By Grecia Ramirez
Direct from Anaheim, it’s blindbargains.com coverage of CSUN 2019, brought to you by AFB AccessWorld.
For the latest news and accessibility information on mainstream and access technology; Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon offerings; access technology book reviews and mobile apps and how they can enhance entertainment, education, and employment, log onto AccessWorld, the American Foundation for the Blind’s free monthly online technology magazine, www.afb.org/aw.
Now, here’s J.J. Meddaugh.
J.J. MEDDAUGH: CSUN 2019, the Blind Bargains coverage from -- or near the Exhibit Hall. We just got kicked out. It’s the end of the day. But I found Confident Navigator and three cofounders, Brandon Kley, Joe Ornelas, and Tarah Ornelas, all from Confident Navigator. This is an interesting navigation solution, and we’ll talk about it in public restrooms.
Welcome to the podcast, guys.
BRANDON KLEY: Thanks. Thank you for having us.
JOE ORNELAS: Thank you. Good to be here.
JM: So let me help out. Actually, we’ll talk to Brandon first, just to help out our audio transcriber so that everyone else knows who’s who. Tell us, Brandon, a little bit about the problem that you’re trying to solve.
BK: So currently, the problem that we’re trying to solve is navigating through a public restroom. A lot of public restrooms are not the same. Every one that you walk into in a public space is different, laid out differently with a different number of amenities inside of that restroom, different number of toilets, different number of sinks. And the problem that we’re solving is allowing a visually impaired person to navigate confidently through that restroom to the center of those amenities, be it a sink, a urinal, or a stall, while also allowing the detection of occupancy.
So it eliminates the running into people or hitting someone with your cane and just the overall feeling of intrusiveness.
JM: Guess I imagine how this might work. Can you explain a little bit how it will convey this information?
BK: Sure. So it’s a two-part system. Initially, the businesses will be implementing this solution, and we will be installing this solution inside of the business. And it’s – the second part is a smart cane that the user will use on the other end. The business will be equipped with the full system. They will have the cane to supply to the initial user until we have enough businesses equipped with the solution that it makes sense for an individual to purchase one of the smart canes on their own.
The reason for doing that is because when we were initially rolling out the idea, we were going to sell the solution system to the business and the smart cane to the consumer, but having a consumer purchase a cane before the business has a solution where the cane can be used didn’t really work. And selling a solution to a business without the user having the ability to use the solution didn’t work. So the way we solved that problem was to just give the whole system and solution to the business itself.
JM: Where did this idea come from? Where did you all get the inspiration for this?
JO: Yeah. It actually came from our inventor, Garrett Roark. He’s been blind for 32 years, a little bit over half his life. He’s been on the Board of Assistive Living community in Cheyenne, Wyoming, so he’s very proud that he had to travel a lot for work. But one of the most inconvenient things was having to explore public restrooms that he was unfamiliar with. Even someone as experienced as Garrett, who’s, you know, learned quite a bit on how to navigate independently on his own and use his senses to navigate in and out of the restroom, he recently was trapped in a restroom for eight minutes, not figuring out how to get back out.
So not only does it allow the user confidence, it also gives them independence. They don’t have to rely on another person, a friend or family member to help them navigate into a restroom, wait for them to do their business, and then help them navigate out.
JM: So you have this smart cane, and then – it will vibrate, or how will the information be conveyed to the cane?
BK: Yeah. It will do both. It will vibrate, and it will audibly communicate to the user. So the handle will have a small speaker that will communicate audibly, the direction, the – and where the user is actually going and whether that amenity is occupied or not. There will be a headphone jack in the handle, so if you carry your own headphones, you can plug in so it will not be an out loud audible response. But it will communicate with you via that audible and vibration source.
JM: Is this in practice anywhere currently --
TO: Not yet.
JM: -- like a prototype?
TO: Not yet. We have a prototype that we’re working on right now, and we have a proof of concept, and we should be close to having something soon. We’re going to be testing in the Earle Baum center and getting a lot of feedback and working with occupational therapists there. And we should be ready to go to market within four to six months.
JM: Your booth has been flush with visitors today. What kind of feedback are you all getting?
TO: Actually, it was really great. This was much needed for us. We got a lot of validation that this is a need for the market. And validation on our first phase, you know, navigation within the restroom. Because you currently have – can’t have any visual assistant aids in the restroom, so this is.
JO: Camera, technology, et cetera.
TO: Yeah. No camera technologies, nothing. So this is a missing piece of the market. But also, our next phase, where we use our tagging system and move on out of the restrooms and into the main public sphere, it was very interesting for the confidently blind as well, where they didn’t see the need for the – inside the restrooms, but they were excited about our future phases.
JO: Yeah. Some of the most validating feedback comes from some of the other exhibitors here, people that are blind or visually impaired and work for technology companies, that also travel, you know, go to a lot of airports and hotels, they’re very proud of the work that they’re doing on their devices and their technology companies, but recognize this is an area that’s been missed and a gap in the marketplace that they’re very excited that we’re exploring.
JM: Do you see using a smart cane as a bit of a challenge, because people already have existing canes which come in a variety of styles --
JO: Uh-huh.
JM: -- and sizes. How will you adapt to fit what people already have?
BK: So we’re working with some visually impaired people to assist in the design of the cane, just to make it simple, a very simple and easy-to-use solution. And the thing that we’re trying to do on our initial product -- because you’re not using it as a daily cane, it’s going to be a simple, temporary use, you’re going to use it for, you know, a matter of three to five minutes just to navigate that restroom that you’re in – that you’re inside of for that period of time and then you’re giving the cane back. The way that it is designed on the foot, like on the bottom of the cane, it will be almost impossible for you to use it incorrectly because the way it sits on the ground will force the user to have it pointing in the right direction and used in the way that it’s intended to be used. So it will be very easy to use, it’ll be very easily adaptable to – whether you’re six years old or whether you’re 70 years old, it’ll be lightweight and adjustable for any sized visually impaired person to use very easily.
JO: Future iterations, though, the device – once we’ve completed our minimum viable product, we’ll include an add-on so you, as a user, can use your existing cane that you’re comfortable with, and we’ll have an attachment where the foot can be added to your existing – either a stand-alone cane or foldable cane.
JM: Thank you so much. If people want to get more information or follow up on your progress, what’s the best way to do that?
TO: They can go online. We have a website. It’s confidentnavigator.com. We’re also on Facebook, and you know, backslash, Confident Navigator as well.
JM: Thank you so much, everybody.
JO: Yeah.
BK: Thank you very much, J.J. Appreciate your time.
TO: Thank you so much for your time.
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Category: ShowsDisplaying 1 comment.
broadwaydon Monday, 01-Apr-2019 6:04 PM ET:What a creative April Fool's joke! (Now that I figured that out, please reward me with a free subscription to AccessWorld.)
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Joe Steinkamp is no stranger to the world of technology, having been a user of video magnification and blindness related electronic devices since 1979. Joe has worked in radio, retail management and Vocational Rehabilitation for blind and low vision individuals in Texas. He has been writing about the A.T. Industry for 15 years and podcasting about it for almost a decade.
