Friday April 19, 2024
Local Connection
Weather
Traffic
@LouisvilleDispatch
@LouisvilleDisp
Subscribe
Kentucky Venues’ guests who are blind or visually impaired will soon have access to an innovative technology that will improve their ability to navigate around large spaces and events.
Kentucky Venues, which operates the Kentucky International Convention Center (KICC) and the Kentucky Exposition Center (KEC) recently partnered with the American Printing House for the Blind (APH) on their Nearby Explorer mobile app.
The app, developed by APH, gives people who are blind or visually impaired audio cues about the world around them and communicates information with beacons that will be installed at strategic points throughout both KICC and KEC.
The app offers an unmatched level of independence when moving through unfamiliar buildings, especially large ones like KICC or KEC. It provides the equivalent of electronic signage, so the user knows what rooms, stairs, etc. are in the vicinity.
“As a user of the app who is blind, I appreciate knowing the general layout of the venue,” said Larry Skutchan, Director of Technology Product Research at APH.
“This way, I can walk in the correct direction, find rooms, find stairs, etc. Even if walking with another person, it is super helpful to get information about what is around.”
Installation of the beacons is anticipated to be complete at both properties by January 31, 2019.
“Accessibility and innovation have always been important to our organization,” said David S. Beck, President and CEO of Kentucky Venues.
“We are proud to partner with APH and want to assist all guests so they feel comfortable as they navigate through our facilities.”
The Nearby Explorer app is available for both Apple and Android phones.
Mayor Greg Fischer today announced that Metro Hall is now equipped with beacons tied to a mobile app to help people who are blind or visually impaired navigate indoor public with audio cues.
The mobile app, Nearby Explorer Online, was developed by Louisville’s American Printing House for the Blind and is available for free on Apple and Android devices.
Through this app, people who are blind or visually impaired are able to locate destinations, restrooms, airport security, points of interest and more.
“Nearby Explorer is a perfect example of our compassionate city working and innovating to help improve accessibility,” Mayor Fischer said. “I’m proud that we could partner with American Printing House for the Blind and the James Graham Brown Foundation to install beacons to Metro Hall, and I’m proud of the work our Office of Civic Innovation has done to expand this program. This will be a big help for citizens, and that’s what we’re all about.”
APH is excited to partner with the City of Louisville to make a more accessible world. “It’s liberating to know what’s around you and to know what direction to go,” said Larry Skutchan, Director of Technology Product Research at APH. “With Nearby Explorer you have options that you don’t have if you’re always dependent on somebody else to take you places.”
Beacons have been installed in public spaces across Louisville through support from the James Graham Brown Foundation and Louisville Metro’s Office of Civic Innovation. Beacons are installed at:
- Louisville International Airport
- KFC Yum! Center
- The Hyatt Regency Hotel
- Frazier History Museum
- Kentucky Science Center
- 21c Museum Hotel
- Muhammad Ali Center
- Kentucky Center for the Arts
- Actors Theatre
- Walgreens store on Frankfort Avenue
- Crescent Hill Public Library
- Visually Impaired Preschool Services (VIPS)
- The McDowell Center
American Printing House is in the process of mapping buildings and installing more beacons across Louisville. The end goal is to make every public building in the world a place that can easily be navigated independently. Nearby Explorer not only helps people who are blind or visually impaired, but can also help people who are sighted work their way through complex indoor spaces.
The Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts has a long, award-winning history of improving arts access for people with disabilities. Adding to a robust and dedicated effort to ensure the arts are available to everyone, The Kentucky Center is now the first performing arts venue in the United States to employ Indoor Explorer technology to assist visitors who are visually disabled.
The “Indoor Explorer” app, developed by the American Printing House for the Blind (APH), based in Louisville, Kentucky, presents a groundbreaking opportunity that advances access to the arts for those who are blind or have low vision.
APH has taken advantage of Bluetooth, beacon technology with the app for use on iOS devices. Once visitors to The Kentucky Center download the app, they can easily navigate every aspect of the venue from the entrance, to the box office, and the restrooms and, of course, the performance theaters. The Kentucky Center’s volunteer staff will be prepared to help patrons to their seats.
“The Kentucky Center has a groundbreaking history in inclusivity and accessibility so that everyone can enjoy the arts,” said Kim Baker, President of The Kentucky Center. “This technology, provided by the American Printing House for the Blind, is revolutionary because it will literally open doors and present new opportunities for our guests with a visual disability.”
“Indoor Explorer” makes use of beacons and indoor information stored in the OpenStreetMap® database. There are 23 beacons are currently located throughout The Kentucky Center. The beacons were installed during the fall of 2017 in designated spots. When used, the app looks up the beacon’s latitude, longitude and floor number. It also looks up points of interest on that same floor and reports their name, distance and position as users move and navigate their way through the building. It also allows users to use the GeoBeam or Compass feature to point the device to locations inside the building. When using the app indoors, the compass, in addition to reporting the direction, names all the building features in that direction.
“The arts are an experience of all the senses and the heart, and they are enjoyed by many people with visual impairments,” said Craig Meador, president of APH. “By adding Indoor Explorer wayfinding to their already robust array of accessibility services, the Kentucky Center is affirming that the arts belong to everyone, and that no one should ever be excluded from the artistic experience.”
“Indoor Explorer” takes advantage of small beacons that periodically transmit brief bursts of data. The app can correlate each beacon’s identification with information about its precise location. “Indoor Explorer” uses this information along with the signal strength of the beacon and any other beacons that may be in the vicinity to help determine your location. Once the app has a location, it can access points of interest (POIs) such as ticket counter, restaurants, security, bathrooms and specific theater entrances.
The technology was developed by APH, who worked closely with The Kentucky Center as well as it’s access services team. Partial financial support for the installation of the new technology in The Kentucky Center was provided by the James Graham Brown Foundation.
The free app can be found in the App store by searching “Nearby Explorer”.
The Kentucky Center’s Access Services Program offers services to ensure that the facility and programming are accessible to everyone by providing assistive listening devices, audio description, captioning, sign language interpretation, and large print programs for events and activities at The Kentucky Center and other facilities, including The Brown Theater (Indoor Explorer is not yet installed at The Brown Theater). The Kentucky Center provides these services to partnering arts groups and at other organizations such as Actors Theatre of Louisville and the Kentucky Shakespeare Festival. For more information, contact the Access Services Hotline at (502) 566-5111 (V) or (502) 566-566-5140 (TTY) or email Access Services at access@kentuckycenter.org.
Mayor Greg Fischer announced today that a public-private partnership to help people who are visually impaired find points of interest in Louisville will expand, thanks to a $250,000 grant from the James Graham Brown Foundation.
The Indoor Explorer program, which is operated by the American Printing House for the Blind and created in partnership with the city’s Office for Civic Innovation, places low-power Bluetooth beacons in public buildings that feed information about amenities and points of interest to an app called Nearby Explorer.
People who are visually impaired will use this information to independently find their way through and around the public buildings to find features, such as an airline ticket counter at the airport.
“The American Printing House for the Blind is a nationally recognized leader in innovation, and so is Louisville Metro Government — so this is a natural partnership,” Mayor Fischer said. “This program will expand opportunities for citizens and visitors with vision loss, and is another example of big ideas becoming a reality in Louisville through collaboration, good thinking and hard work.”
The grant will fund the installation of low-power Bluetooth beacons inside additional public buildings, expanding the uses of the Nearby Explorer app for independent travel, employment, civic engagement, tourism, education, dining, recreation, shopping and more. The beacons will also improve indoor navigation — which is limited under current technology — for app users who are blind and visually impaired.
“We are energized by Mayor Fischer’s commitment to making APH’s vision of a world where people who are blind or visually impaired can work, learn and live without barriers a reality here in Louisville,” said APH President Craig Meador. “Working together we have the opportunity to show the world what a truly welcoming community looks like by making Louisville the most accessible city for people who are blind and visually impaired.”
The project aligns with Louisville Metro’s Smart City initiatives, which also include the Waze app for traffic notifications, collaboration with the app IFTTT, and the LouieLab civic innovation space in downtown Louisville.
Photo: KHS
Last week, the Kentucky Historical Society (KHS) announced recipients of the first grants from the Kentucky Local History Trust Fund (KRS 171.325), a funding pool that supports local history organizations’ efforts to preserve and tell Kentucky’s stories.
Seventeen organizations from 16 counties across the Commonwealth received grants totaling $9,504.30. Individual amounts range from $290 to $1,000 for projects related to collection conservation, education, promotion, exhibits and strategic planning.
Kentucky Local History Trust Fund grant recipients include:
- Appalshop, Inc., $1,000, Letcher County, for collection management
- Highlands Museum and Discovery Center, $1,000, Boyd County, for collection management
- The Friends of Audubon, $1,000, Henderson County, for exhibit artifact conservation
- Ben E. Clement Mineral Museum, $909, Crittenden County, for educational programming
- McDowell House Museum, Inc., $700, Boyle County, for collections management
- American Printing House for the Blind, $700, Jefferson County, for exhibit installation
- Bluegrass Heritage Museum, $600, Clark County, for collection management
- Boone County Public Library, $500, Boone County, for collection management
- Shelby County Historical Society, $500, for organization development/management
- Montgomery County Historical Society, $500, Montgomery County, for exhibit artifact conservation
- Erlanger Historical Society, $355.30, Kenton County, for collections management
Six groups received $290 each to enroll in the American Association for State and Local History Standards and Excellence Program for History Organizations field-based standards program. Participation in a standards-based program such as this one is one of the requirements for grant eligibility.
- Duncan Tavern Historic Center, Bourbon County
- Historic Paris-Bourbon County/Hopewell Museum, Bourbon County
- Hickman County Historical and Genealogical Society, Hickman County
- Riverview at Hobson Grove, Warren County
- Allen County Historical Society, Allen County
- Kentucky Railway Museum, Inc., Nelson County
Local History Trust Fund money comes from Kentuckians who donate a portion of their state income tax refund (as little as $1 or as much as the entire refund). The Kentucky Historical Society administers the Local History Trust Fund, accepting applications and awarding grants. For this work, it may reserve 15 percent of the annual contributions to cover administration costs.
