The Republican Special Library for the Blind and Visually Impaired held a presentation of the unique program "Speaking city"

The Republican Special Library for the Blind and Visually Impaired     held a presentation of the unique program "Speaking city."

The presentation of the project was attended by the plenipotentiary representative of the President of All-Russia  Society  of the Blind  (ASB)  in the Volga Federal District, the chairman of the Tatar regional ASB organization  Vladimir Fedorin, Director of the Republican Special Library for the Blind and Visually Impaired Nail Safargaleev, representatives of the youth organization of the visually impaired  of  ASB Tatar regional organization, professionals and readers of the library for the blind .

The system of "Speaking city" for Tatarstan blind and the specialists   working with this category of citizens was presented by director of the company manufacturer of OOO "O.K.  GROUP "Oleg Kuritsyn.

As noted by Oleg Kuritsyn, the program is a whole system - from the dedicated buttons on the buses, warning about special passengers to personal consumer devices - developed by the St. Petersburg specialists. The system is currently being  implemented and has been used successfully in St. Petersburg, Moscow, Moscow region, at the Olympic facilities in Sochi and a number of other regions and cities of Russia.

The system "Talking Town" is installed and working not only on the routes of public transport, but also in shops, pharmacies, railway stations, clinics, i.e. socially important locations.

Blind participants of  presentation were cautious in estimates. According to them, attempts  to help navigating  the urban space to those, who can not see or see  very little,  were undertaken and  not always  these attempts can be called successful. Participants asked their questions. Many wondered how a device behaves in a difficult for our region in terms of the weather autumn and winter? How to apply this innovation for  drivers and other passengers? Does the  system make failures? etc.

Chairman of the   ASB  Tatar regional organization  Vladimir Fedorin noted that the system of "Speaking city" is the most interesting and promising model of the equipment, taking into account the real needs and characteristics of the blind. "The fact that the system was developed and tested with the participation of specialists from the AOB,   and showed stable and steady work in St. Petersburg, the transport infrastructure of Sochi during the Olympic and Paralympic Games, as well as in several other regions of the country allows us to recommend it in  Tatarstan. What are we actually going to do at their level. After the introduction of such a system  there  will be a significant contribution to the creation of a barrier-free environment,  will greatly enhance the safety and convenience of the visually impaired when traveling in a metropolis such as  Kazan. However, whether it will use the system in Tatarstan and how soon it will happen, time will show, "said Vladimir Alekseevich, leaving ​​ the meeting.

For reference:

"Speaking City - a system of informing and orienting for the visually impaired and other people with limited mobility in the urban environment. A program of the St. Petersburg with the participation of experts of the All-Russia Society for the Blind.

The system consists of a user, which  is portable subscriber unit "Reference" and the equipment installed at the transport and urban infrastructure.

Equipment "Speaking city" over the air passes to the subscriber units located within its range (up to 15m), voice of the object on which it is installed. The subscriber unit will play the message through the speaker or headphones.

Upon request by the equipment beeps orientation, allowing the user to determine the direction of the desired object to it.

Contact Information: Gelyusya Zakirova, the press service of the library (89033438746)