Presentation at Universal Traffic Management International Seminar, September, 2000

Talking Signs^® Technology

I would like to bring you up date regarding activities of Talking Signs^® technology. The last twelve months have seen the technology spreading from its base in San Francisco to other cities, primarily through the interest of U.S. airport managers in installing Talking Signs systems to make their airports accessible to blind, low visioned and print impaired travelers. We have made progress in the area of government action, installation of systems, consolidation of support from the blind and low visioned communities, both the users and the professional communities that serve the users, and studies that further validate the effectiveness of the technology. Significant progress has been made by our partner in Japan, Mitsubishi Precision Company in establishing Talking Signs technology here.

It is the primary strategy of Talking Signs, Inc. to concentrate on the transportation infrastructure. Transit companies such as Bay Area Rapid Transit, Seattle Sound Transit, Cleveland Regional Transit Authority have either begun permanent installations or have pilot projects planned. Talking Signs, Inc. was honored in May with the Best of ITS 2000 award in the category of Improvement in Quality of Life. The Intelligent Transportation Society of America has given it full support to the establishment of Talking Signs as the standard for the U.S. As the primary consultant to the U.S. Department of Transportation, ITS America, has been able to provide assistance in having the needs of blind, low visioned and print impaired people brought to the attention of officials at the highest levels. As a result, the Secretary of Transportation has lent his assistance to the implementation of the technology in the U.S. and has reached out to others, such as the Japan National Police Agency, to cooperate in the establishment of remote infrared audible signs standards worldwide. It should be noted that the early interest of UTMS in this technology and the extensive studies that UTMS has executed have contributed significantly to the positive attitude that the U.S. Secretary of Transportation has toward remote infrared audible signs. For this I thank you all.

Talking Signs, Inc. has established relationships with officials responsible for accessibility in Boston, MA Chicago, IL, Phoenix, AZ, Seattle,, WA, Portland, OR, Washington, DC, Austin, TX, Denver, CO, Cleveland, OH, Lansing, MI and other cities. This has generated considerable interest in the technology and has helped advance the national awareness of the need for remote infrared audible signs.

In the area of government action the year has seen the passage by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors of a resolution calling for the installation of remote infrared audible signs at all public facilities. The Federal Access Board has distributed proposed regulations for public comment that include the recognition of remote infrared audible signs as an acceptable alternative in places where Braille is not appropriate. The final adaptation of the proposed regulations will be after the first of the year.

Talking Signs technology continues to gain support from the blind, low visioned and print impaired communities. The American Council of the Blind has adopted as one of four legislative objectives in Washington the installation of Talking Signs at the U.S. Capitol and the Federal Complex that surrounds it. Their enthusiasm for the technology is now evident in all states through their various affiliates. After all, in the final analysis, it will be these communities that determine the success of this technology...and they have their shoulder to the wheel. The professional community, made up of teachers and orientation and mobility specialists are four square behind the implementation of the technology. At their annual meeting in Denver, 1,000 members of the Association of Educators of the Visually Impaired, witnessed 30 of their blind members negotiating the convention using temporary Talking Signs transmitters that had been installed in the convention hotel. The testimony of these blind users of the signs was strongly positive and the signs effectiveness was obvious to all who saw the blind attendees moving through the convention with ease.

The Transportation Center of the University of California, Berkeley funded as study carried out by the University of California, Santa Barbara, Department of Geography and Spatial Cognition. Jim Marsten, and Dr. Reginald Golledge of U.C. Santa Barbara performed the study on the use of Talking Signs at cross walks and in the Caltrain train station in San Francisco. Thirty blind subjects went through various tests designed by Marsten and Golledge to determine the effectiveness of Talking Signs. You may pick up a translated portion of this study at the door.

The study confirmed the effectiveness of Talking Signs technology and established some new concepts in the area of understanding how blind people develop cognitive maps.

One of the results of the study was the introduction of language that more accurately describes the difficulty that blind and low visioned people have navigating the environment. We are all familiar with structural barriers to people with physical impairments. Mr. Marsten has introduced the term "functional barriers" do describe the obstacles presented to the blind and low person as he or she moves through the environment. One of the most obvious examples of a functional barrier it the lack of signs for this population. A problem must be named before its solution can be addressed. Now with the term "functional barriers" we can more accurately refer to the difficulties that blind people have.

It has been erroneously believed by many that blind people have extreme difficulty in developing cognitive maps. This was proven erroneous by the Marsten study. Marsten found that blind people could easily take "short cuts" through areas not previously traveled in the Caltrain station by going in and our side doors not previously used in the test paths established in the early part of the exercise. This gives evidence of the ease with which blind people can get the "lay of the land" by using Talking Signs as landmarks to develop a cognitive map of an area.

In Japan, Mitsubishi Precision Company has been very active for the past two years installing Talking Signs at Welfare Facilities, Hospitals, City Halls, Theme Parks, Museums, and so on. The interest of the Japan National Police Agency in the Pedestrian Information Communication System (PICS) offers the opportunity to determine if this Talking Signs ^® technology should be placed at pedestrian cross walks at intersections. It is reported that tests run in Isogo by the JNPA have been very encouraging.

Talking Signs technology continues to make rapid progress as the de-facto standard of the world. The momentum that has been gained portends an exciting future for the technology and great hope for blind and low visioned people.