Microsoft Develops Voice Navigator for the Blind

Microsoft has developed an application called Soundscape, which provides voice guidance to help people with severe visual impairments navigate cities. This was announced on the company’s official website.

The app works in tandem with headphones, functioning as a voice navigator. Users can state the desired address, and Soundscape will help them reach their destination. Along the way, the app describes nearby buildings and other landmarks encountered on the route. Users can also set beacons—audio signals that help them understand the location of marked objects in space. This is made possible by 3D sound technology.

What Is Soundscape?

The name of the app translates to “soundscape”—a term introduced by Canadian composer and researcher Raymond Schafer. He defined a soundscape as “the composition of sounds perceived by a person in their living environment.” According to Microsoft, their app allows users to create their own soundscape to help them orient themselves in space.

Availability and Future Plans

The company hopes that in the future, the free Soundscape app will help improve the quality of life for more than 300 million people worldwide who are living with complete vision loss. For now, the app is only available to iOS device users in the United Kingdom.