Giving Compass' Take:

• Byron Spice reports that the BBeep smart suitcase pairs with a smartphone app to help visually impaired individuals navigate airports. 

• How can funders support the development and spread of technology for visually impaired people? 

• Learn about technology helping visually impaired people to learn science. 

A smart suitcase, called BBeep, and a way-finding smartphone app can help people with visual disabilities navigate airport terminals safely and independently, report researchers.

The rolling suitcase sounds alarms when users are headed for a collision with a pedestrian, and the navigation app provides turn-by-turn audio instructions to users on how to reach a departure gate—or a restroom or a restaurant. Both proved effective in a pair of user studies that took place at Pittsburgh International Airport.

Researchers have partnered with Pittsburgh International Airport in developing new systems and technologies for enhancing traveler experiences and airport operations.

An increasing number of airports have been installing Bluetooth beacons, which can be used for indoor navigation, but airports often deploy them to enhance services for sighted travelers, not to help blind people, says Kris Kitani, assistant research professor in the Robotics Institute.

He and his colleagues deployed NavCog, a smartphone-based app that employs Bluetooth beacons, at Pittsburgh International Airport. The app, which researchers developed with IBM to help blind people navigate independently, has been previously deployed on campuses and in shopping malls.

Read the full article about BBeepAirport by Byron Spice at Futurity.