How an app helps the visually impaired navigate the world

By Linda Stuart

TORONTO – For most of us, location-based augmented reality apps might be considered “nice to have”, entertaining technology that conjures up images of last summer’s Pokémon Go craze. But for blind and visually impaired people, the use of augmented reality technology in audio-based navigation apps can provide a safer and often liberating way to travel through unfamiliar streets and especially inside buildings.That’s the idea behind BlindSquare, a GPS navigation app for iPhones that provides audio descriptions of a user’s surroundings, using information from open data sources such as Foursquare and Google Maps. First created in 2012 by Finnish software developer...