BlindSquare<\/a>.\u00a0 This complicated, but highly useful tool, draws upon\u00a0information from the popular FourSquare service to create a unique navigation solution. BlindSquare will query FourSquare for points of interest near your current location.\u00a0 By pointing your iPhone toward the various compass points, you can \u201clook\u201d in a specific direction to find out what is around you. If you select a destination from a list, the distance and direction of travel will continually be reported as you travel.<\/p>\nAs BlindSquare connects to FourSquare for this information, information such as address, telephone, website and even menus can be had at the touch of a button. If specific travel directions are desired, the route can be generated via a GPS app of your choosing.\u00a0 This is one key to BlindSquare\u2019s power. It bridges GPS programs with \u00a0FourSquare and presents the information in a way which may be especially useful to a visually-impaired user.<\/p>\n
Another interesting feature of BlindSquare is exploring an area virtually.\u00a0 This is great for planning a trip, or just figuring out where you might want to eat lunch after next week\u2019s meeting downtown.<\/p>\n
BlindSquare can be very chatty, so there is a filter setting for limiting the verbosity of the information BlindSquare provides as you travel.\u00a0 Spoken notifications can also increase as your proximity to a destination increases. As you can see, there are many customizable behaviors for BlindSquare which means it can be used in many different ways.<\/p>\n
BlindSquare has been around for several years now, and it has received much favorable recognition. So far, I have only scratched the surface of what can be done with BlindSquare, and I look forward to using it in the future.<\/p>\n