BlindSquare

With BlindSquare, HHU offers an app for the on-campus orientation of visually impaired students and employees.  The app was launched on 10 September. BlindSquare describes the surroundings in such a way that one can get a "picture" of the area. "The app was developed jointly with blind and visually impaired people," explains Zdzislaw Lipski, an employee of the Center for Information and Media Technology (ZIM), who is blind himself. BlindSquare uses GPS, Bluetooth (beacons) and the smartphones built-in compass to determine position and direction and reads out stored descriptions of the environment, either in German or English.
Blind and visually impaired as well as interested sighted people can download the free version (BlindSq Event) for use on campus and/or the more comprehensive paid app (BlindSquare; 43.99 €) from Apple's App Store (https://www.apple.com/de/ios/app-store/).

• At the moment the announcement filter must be manually set to "None" in order to achieve an optimal result. We are working on an automatic way to do this.
• Magnetic cases can confuse the compass in the iPhone and thus produce wrong messages. In such a case, take the iPhone out of its case, restart the smartphone and use it without the case during orientation.
• It is best to hold the iPhone horizontally in front of you and only shake it up and down. A sideways shake can confuse the compass and announce messages from other directions.
• If you are experimenting with other CLS, please test them extensively and, if necessary, switch off the CLS again to make sure that it does not interfere with the existing CLS.

If you have any questions, please contact the Counseling Office of the Representative for Students with Disabilities or Chronic Illness in Building 24.21., Level 00, Room 33.g.