Google Maps Now Offers Extra Detailed Spoken Directions to Help Blind People
Google Maps Now Offers Extra Detailed Spoken Directions To Help Blind People

          Google recently announced a new Artificial Intelligence based feature for Chrome that uses machine learning to recognize the images and give text descriptions to low-vision and blind people. Now, Google has rolled out another new feature that offers extra-detailed spoken navigation to help people with vision impairment navigate more easily.

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“Frequent updates like these not only help a visually impaired person get from A to B, they can also give us more confidence and reassurance when we travel alone," said Wakana Sugiyama, a business analyst in Google's Tokyo office who was an adviser and tester for this new Google Maps project. Sugiyama, herself, is legally blind and uses a walking crane to move around.

This feature is officially known as detailed voice guidance and was launched yesterday which was also the World Sight Day. The feature is currently only available in English in the US and Japanese in Japan for Google Maps on Android and iOS. Detailed voice guidance offers new types of verbal announcements for walking trips. So, it will tell you how long it will be until your next turn, the direction you're walking in and also warn if you’re nearing any major intersection or crossroad.

“With this feature, I can navigate the streets of Tokyo with more comfort and confidence. As I take my journey, Google Maps proactively lets me know that I’m on the correct route, the distance until my next turn and the direction I’m walking in. As I approach large intersections, I get a heads-up to cross with added caution. And if I accidentally leave my route, I’ll get a spoken notification that I'm being re-routed,” added Sugiyama. You can easily access the feature by selecting 'Settings' menu in Google Maps, tapping on 'Navigation' then 'Walking options' and finally the 'Detailed Voice Guidance'.

SEE ALSO: Google Maps can now predict how crowded your train will be

It’s good to see that Google is experimenting with new features and technology to make its services more accessible to a wider range of audience.
          
        