waveOut: a new 3D audio and AR app for navigation with accessibility in mind.
Orientation is a major challenge. No one appreciates feeling lost, stupid, or stressed while trying to understand directions by turning their phone upside down. Alternatively, you may spend all of your time staring at a device, oblivious to your surroundings.
The majority of navigation apps on the market today are not designed with accessibility in mind. They are difficult to use for the blind, visually challenged, and elderly. Hands-free, stress-free, precise navigation would also assist cyclists, expats, and tourists.
WaveOut employs augmented reality to establish virtual checkpoints in the real environment, as well as realistic 3D audio to take you there till you reach your final destination. All you have to do is pay attention to the precise audio signals that will lead you in the right route.
Designed with a purpose
Waveout’s principal designer Liliana Calapez put a lot of thought into her design. The color blind friendly mode and high contrast 2D map in waveOut, as well as the arrangement of the various app elements and the font size of its text, were all designed to make it easy to use for the majority of people.
As Liliana says: “There’s no single solution that will fit everyone, but we can look at the diversity of our user’s needs to co-design a product that includes as many people as possible.”
“We want to make navigation easy, safe and as relaxing as possible for everyone”, says Hugo Furtado, Dreamwaves founder and CEO. “Our research have always been focused on the user, testing our product, incorporating their suggestions and creating features according to what people need and want.””
People with blindness / visual impairments
When people with visual impairments leave their homes, they may experience persistent tension. We’ve been collaborating closely with blind organizations, such as Once in Spain, to ensure that we’re meeting their needs: navigating the world with confidence, independence, and ease.
Cyclists
Cycling is a sustainable mode of transportation, but it may be stressful and dangerous in a crowded city if you have to glance at your phone frequently. We want to encourage individuals to ride their bikes more by providing them with a tool that makes their journeys faster, safer, and more enjoyable. Cyclists can now concentrate their eyes on the road rather than being distracted by spoken directions.
Travelers
Traveling is a fantastic experience. Not so much when you’re lost in a strange environment. WaveOut employs spatial audio cues to direct you to your destination, allowing passengers to walk around like a local, instinctively and without having to look at their phone’s screen.
Dreamwaves was founded after Hugo Furtado finished his Ph.D. research in medical imaging, developing a catheter’s visualization system for cardiac surgery. He realized AR’s potential in impacting people’s lives, and how sound is an uncharted territory in AR.
Source: waveout