Hello David This is very informative and helpful; thank you. I think we'll give this device a miss, to be honest. It sounds like there are major problems with it and if you and others have all found the same thing, it sounds like it wouldn't be money well spent.
Again, many thanks. Lynne On 12 Jan 2012, at 00:40, David Griffith wrote: There was a lot of discussion on another list I was on and I cannot remember anybody who had bought it who were satisfied. 2 had sent it back to the RNIB. I should have dome so also but unfortunately I was waiting for the RNIBHi Tech team to get back to me with suggestions as to how the device could be made usable. I waited so long I went beyond the 30 days and then could not send it back. My wife was furious with me. The basic problem is that there is no way of entering any designation without speech input. If the device does not like your voice you are up the proverbial. Other users on a list complain that the recognition would only work indoors without any traffic noise or wind. Several of us, including myself, complained that the device had the infuriating habit of interpreting a GPS command as a a request to play a radio station so you would keep on getting weird and wonderful radio stations coming on as you walked along. In theory you could set up contacts by connecting the device to a web site but this section of the site was inaccessible. I left the RNIB to talk to the company to see if the web site could be made accessible. However it was waiting for this to happen that I went over my 30 day return back date. The RNIB have never got back to me with suggestions as to make this kit usable… Even if by some miracle it recognised the destination I wanted to go to there were problems When giving directions it did not distinguish between roads on the left and right so you could not count roads as you walked over them. The battery life was dreadful and I was constantly having to charge to get any life out of it. The only thing it could reliably do was respond to a where am I command. Some people commented that the phone app version is much better than the hardware kit. . David Griffith [email protected] On 11 Jan 2012, at 23:10, Dane Trethowan wrote: > Always interesting to hear this type of thing, I don't want to be seen to > judging the product but I wonder if its a firmware issue? I've not heard of > any major problems with the device in Australia and I'm not aware of any in > the U.S. > > I'm far from an expert when it comes to GPS devices either <smile>. > > > On 12/01/2012, at 12:17 AM, David Griffith wrote: > >> I just thought I would mention that I bought the Captain GPS Plus unit >> from the RNIB. For me it was useless as it could not recognise even basic >> street names like Wood Street and had no method of inputting any destination >> apart from voice recognition. >> Further problems which I can go into if necessary including inaccessible web >> support but will not clutter up the list unless people want this >> information. >> >> David Griffith >> >> >> -----Original Message----- >> From: [email protected] >> [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Dane Trethowan >> Sent: 11 January 2012 13:02 >> To: Techno-Chat ... Technology Enthusiasm! >> Subject: Re: Phonak Compilot >> >> I don't know whether the Captain GPS Plus is any help? >> >> No, its not a talking white cane but it is a mobility aid which includes >> GPS, the difference is that you talk to it and tell it what you want, "Where >> is McDonalds"? for example and it is supposed to direct you, specifically >> enhanced for blind people I'm lead to believe giving extra information about >> footpaths and so on, the Guide Dogs in Victoria use them. >> >> Perhaps I'm wrong but that to me is the closest you'll get to a talking >> cane. >> >> I've heard of "Talking Cane" projects but then you have a huge problem with >> a cane and that's sheer brute force, it gets bashed on the footpath for >> example as part of its use so I should think protecting circuitry within >> would be a problem. >> >> I'm sure that you'll find a review of a talking cane or similar on Blind >> Cool Tech at http://www.blindcooltech.com >> >> >> On 11/01/2012, at 10:14 PM, Mrs. Lynnette Annabel Smith wrote: >> >>> Hello Chris >>> >>> On 10 Jan 2012, at 16:56, Chris Moore wrote: >>> >>> . i must admit I have never heard of these either. You can get white >> canes with the roller ball which you use as described earlier without >> tapping, but they don't talk. >>> >>> We've been discussing this here a little and yes, it seems pretty much >> impractical that a white cane could be made to talk and function as >> intended. I mean, in a busy traffic environment how are you supposed to hear >> the cane's instructions or information? As others have said also, perhaps a >> vibration sensor; maybe even a multi-frequency vibration sensor, nay be >> practical. Possibly the user with a sufficiently developed sense of touch >> could distinguish between the frequency of the vibration; I really couldn't >> comment on that because I'm not one of those people. It is surely >> impractical to have an earplug inserted in your ear for this purpose because >> you'd need bidirectional hearing to handle the traffic and other sounds. I >> guess you'd probably need more than that, thinking about it; maybe >> 3-dimensional hearing would be a better description so that you can also >> hear noises and know that they're coming from behind you. >>> >>> I'm going to do some more research into this, but I'm pretty much sure >> that what you and others have said on list is quite right, talking canes are >> probably futuristic and, more probably still, not practical. >>> >>> . Something Gordon might be interested in for his hearing aids though is >> the new Compilot from Phonak. It basically combines a remote control and >> improved iCom all into one, and even has voice prompt support and voice >> dialling and caller ID etc and also has improved battery life. >>> >>> This comes on the top of us buying 2 iComs and 2 TVlinks. We are finding >> that if we try to connect our SL56 and also the iPhone to the same iCom via >> Bluetooth, the first device somehow becomes unpaired. I will do some more >> research in the usual place, and I'll also write you off list about this >> because the situation has changed in the last couple of days. >>> >>> This would replace his iCom, oh and you can plug a FM receiver into it >> too. >>> Yes; you can plug an FM receiver into the iCom; but it then doesn't allow >> you to use the other functions. Again I'll write to you off list if I may. >>> >>> Lynne >>> >>> >>> >>> ======================================= >>> >>> The Techno-Chat E-Mail forum is guaranteed malware, spyware, Trojan, >>> virus and worm-free >>> >>> To modify your subscription options, please visit for forum's >>> dedicated web pages located at >>> http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/techno-chat >>> >>> You can find an archive of all messages posted to the Techno-Chat group at >> either of the following websites: >>> >>> http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/pipermail/techno-chat/index.html >>> >>> Or: >>> <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]> >>> you may also subscribe to this list via RSS. 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