“We want to live like normal people, we don’t always want to plan ahead to see if we can get community transport or a taxi, we want to be able to just jump on a bus and go somewhere and have that freedom,” said Kirstie Grice, a visually impaired participant in the project.
 

The technology – developed by Microsoft, Guide Dogs and the UK government's Future Cities Catapult – takes the form of a smart headset paired with a Windows Phone app, which has been designed for people with sight loss.

The headset is a modified pair of AfterShokz headphones, which hooks over the wearer's ears and rests on their jaw bone, transmitting sound to their inner ear using vibrations. This means that the wearer can hear sound from the headphones and from their environment simultaneously.

Microsoft has added a small 3D-printed box on the back of the headset containing an accelerometer, a gyroscope and a compass, as well as a GPS chip, so that the user's position can be tracked
 

Using location and navigation data from GPS and Microsoft Bing Maps, as well as a network of Bluetooth-enabled beacons placed in urban locations, the headset can help visually impaired people navigate the city.

For example, a user could select a destination using their smartphone and the headset would provide audio cues to help them get there. The device emits a continuous pinging sound when the user is following the correct route, and a swishing noise if they wander off-course. It also informs them when they reach junctions and issues verbal directions.

The headset can also provide contextual information about shops, attractions and additional journey details. For example, it might tell them that the road they are on has trees with low-hanging branches and cars parked along the pavement.

Buttons on the headset let users access more detailed or historical information about specific points of interest. So if they pass a town hall, for example, they could press the button to find out when it was built and what is happening there. All information is sourced from Microsoft Bing.

Microsoft's 3D audio technology means that the sound is directional, so if the attraction in question is several metres ahead to the right, the sound will appear to come from that direction.

Each headset is tailored to the user’s unique specification, using Kinect-based technology to create a 3D model of their head. This helps to enhance the quality of 3D sound placement, according to Microsoft.
 

"We have built a means to help people create a mental map in real time," said Amos Miller, director of enterprise strategy at Microsoft Asia, who himself suffers from sight loss and has been involved in the project from the beginning.

"By painting a picture of the world through sound, similarly to how a lighthouse guides with light, we can remove much of the fear of new journeys and improve those which people are already familiar with."

The technology has initially been tested with a small group of people with sight loss on a sample journey from Reading to London encompassing walking routes, bus travel, shopping, and train travel. However, the intention is to roll the project out more widely.

With two million people in the UK already living with sight loss, the potential impact of this kind of project is huge. The ability to travel independently can significantly affect a person's ability to go to school, engage in sport or get to and from social activities, and can have a knock-on impact on their ability to get a job.

However, a broader rollout will depend on the infrastructure – particularly the Bluetooth beacons – being installed across cities and transport networks on a wide scale.

Microsoft said that one of the long term ambitions of the project is to persuade organisations and local authorities to come on board and help make their services more accessible for people living with sight loss.
 

"The UK can be a world leader in using technology and data to make cities better. This will not only improve quality of life for those of us that live in cities – it’s also an enormous business opportunity," said Peter Madden, CEO of Future Cities Catapult.

"This collaboration shows just what we can do if we get the right mix of people together, really work to understand people’s needs, and then harness the very latest technology to find answers."

The Cities Unlocked project is still in the demonstrator stage, and the partners are yet to put a timescale on when the technology will become publicly available.

However, the project is already supported by a number of organisations and advocates including former Paralympic swimmer Lord Chris Holmes, Barclays Bank, First Great Western, MIBeacons/Mubaloo, Network Rail, Reading Borough Council, Reading Buses and Tesco.

“I greatly enjoyed testing the kit around the streets of Reading. The direction, information and crucially, sense of safety and certainty it provides is extraordinary. I’m very excited about the almost limitless potential of this technology," said Lord Holmes.