For more than a decade now, products designed to assist people who are blind or visually impaired with way-finding and landmark identification have been at the forefront of the assistive technology arena. HumanWare has been a leader in the development of such products, and its Trekker Breeze was developed as a direct response to feedback from blind and low-vision customers. As its name implies, the Trekker Breeze is lightweight and simple to use, but delivers torrents of valuable information to the traveler.
The Trekker Breeze Way-Finding Device
No device will take the place of solid orientation and mobility skills, acquired by effective use of a long white cane or guide dog. Your cane or guide dog, however, can't tell you the name of the intersection ahead, the location of a church or coffee shop, or when to turn into your own driveway. The Trekker Breeze uses global positioning satellites and current maps to provide critical navigation and orientation information while you are out and about. If you are out for an exploratory stroll, for instance, and know that you must walk four blocks north and two blocks west to get to the neighborhood park, the Trekker Breeze can confirm your direction for you and tell you the names of streets as you approach them. The Trekker Breeze can help you find a favorite bench or tree in the park if you've added the location into the device as a landmark. In an unfamiliar environment, the Trekker Breeze can help you learn the route from your hotel to a recommended museum or restaurant, and even give you information about the various types of intersections you encounter along the way.
Physical Description
About the size of a chubby remote control and weighing about eight ounces, the Trekker Breeze is lightweight and portable. Although small enough to fit in a pocket, the unit receives the strongest signal and functions most efficiently when carried in the hand or worn over the shoulder. Worn over the shoulder with the included strap, the unit hangs within easy reach of the right or left hand for pressing buttons as needed.
The device's thoughtful construction includes only nine buttons on the face of the unit, each one large and easily distinguished by touch. The buttons are of varying shapes and colors, spaced well apart, and provide immediate audible feedback (beeping or speaking) when pressed. The on/off switch is on one side of the device and a thumb wheel volume control is on the other. The AC adapter port and SD/USB ports have protective rubberized covers. Although the unit does have a built-in speaker, I typically made use of the 2.5mm earphone jack on the top of the unit for connecting the external speaker mounted on the shoulder strap. (Earphones, of course, can also be used, although this configuration is not recommended during independent travel for obvious safety reasons.) Supplied with the unit is a DVD containing all US maps and a 2GB SD card. Up to four maps can be stored on the SD card for use on the Trekker Breeze at any given time.
Using the Device
When you power up the Trekker Breeze, it emits a single beep (it beeps twice at power off) and the words "Initializing Breeze" are spoken along with the battery status. Pressing the information button at any given time, you can find out the power of the GPS signal (low, medium, or high), compass direction in which you are heading, number of feet you have traveled, and the rate of speed at which you are moving. Pressing the "Where Am I" button will announce your nearest address or landmark. As you walk, you can set the Trekker Breeze to announce each intersection as you approach it, along with identifying information about that intersection. Heading north on Main Street toward Sixth Street, for instance, the Trekker Breeze might say, "Sixth Street on the right in 300 feet" or "Sixth Street on the right and left in 300 feet" and pressing the "Where Am I" button will give you the additional information that your nearest address is 526 Main Street or the name of a landmark located at that address.
You can customize the Trekker Breeze easily by using the Record button to record routes or landmarks. Standing at a favorite park bench, for example, you simply press the Record button and say "Park bench" and when you are next in the vicinity of that bench the Breeze will announce it for you. Routes are recorded in the same way. Walk the route and record turns as you go. Trekker Breeze will then guide you through the route when you next select it from your list of recorded routes. If you select a landmark as destination or enter an address, the Trekker Breeze will create a route for you. The Breeze will announce the segments of the route as you travel, saying, for instance, "Get ready to turn right on Maple Ave in 200 feet" or "Stay on Cedar Street." If you have missed a step in your directions, you can always hear previous steps repeated. Another nice feature is the ability to review a route indoors before beginning your adventure.
The Trekker Breeze works well in vehicles as well as in pedestrian mode, and will automatically adjust itself to vehicle mode (detecting the change by the speed at which you are traveling) and shift gears to provide information accordingly.
Accuracy
Like all GPS guidance devices, the Breeze is accurate to about 30 feet. It can tell you when you are almost at the corner of Fifth and Vine but it's up to you and your mobility skills to know when to stop for traffic. In addition to this standard margin of error, the Breeze required a considerable warm-up time of about 30 minutes to orient itself properly. I got in the habit of turning on the device a half-hour before departure, making sure to leave it close to a window where it could get a good signal. Even with this advance preparation, the device sometimes would begin by properly identifying the street on which I started, but would announce an incorrect direction of travel. Similarly, the Breeze once told me that it could not create a route because I was not yet on a street, when I was, in fact, driving down a major city road in bright mid-afternoon sun with no tall buildings around to impede GPS reception. Ultimately, though, the Breeze got the direction and all other information sorted out correctly and, once oriented, the device performed admirably.
The user's guide for the Breeze is quite clear and reasonably concise.
The Bottom Line
The Trekker Breeze is an easy and intuitive product to use. While waiting for the Trekker Breeze to warm up or wake up is sometimes decidedly annoying, once it has done so, it's a joy to use and a great support for independent navigation.
The Trekker Breeze sells for $929, including one regional map, and can be ordered by visiting the HumanWare website or by calling (800) 722-3393.
