An Oral History Interview with Mike May, Part 4 of 4

Listen to May Interview, Part 4

Mike May: In 1999, Larry Scadden of the National Science Foundation hosted a group of consumers and industry people to figure out what needed to happen, in terms of way-finding.

As a result of that meeting and the report that was written up, the Department of Education put out a request for proposal to do way-finding technology and I teamed up with five different organizations, Smith Kettlewell, UC Santa Barbara, University of Minnesota, Western Michigan University and Carnegie Mellon University. And Sendero was the lead in this way-finding project and September 11, 911 came about when these guys were meeting in Washington, D.C. and when the rest of the world was in great distress, as I was, over that, a week later I get a phone call from the Department of Education saying you've been awarded this 2.25 million dollar grant.

A huge moment. I can remember to this day, so tangibly, because the thought crossed my mind at that point, cause I was also just off this new vision experience, if somebody gave me a choice between getting that phone call and getting my sight back I'd take the phone call. Because my baby was at risk here.

And I think really that what Larry Scadden and NSF did, in calling this meeting and getting the consumer input, and the Department of Education putting out the grant has really been the major factor that's behind what we've been able to do. And going ahead, evolving the technology and putting this in the hands now of hundreds of blind people in the US and now spreading to other countries. Huge turning point.

It's a five-year grant and in the blindness industry the problem is that it's a niche market and things are expensive and funding is an issue. The Department of Rehabilitation, by and large, doesn't see why way-finding technology is something that's necessary in order to get to a job. So they have a hard time justifying it.

This is turning the corner, it's changing, but I would say there's 10% of Rehab Counselors throughout the country at this point that believe in the technology and that it does help their clients. And I hope that over the years that will change so it will soon become like scanning, where it's just something that's expected to be in place and everybody needs it.

Tony Candela: And the history of blindness technology is not complete without talking about what you just mentioned: How much of the purchasing has been done by the government sector, including the Vocational Rehabilitation System.

Mike May: Absolutely. Because we go back to the comment that the biggest obstacle to adaptive technology is the funding (in 2004), and not the technology itself. We really rely on these Rehabilitation Counselors to fund their clients. A good 75% of our business and anybody in this business comes from them. So educating them as to the importance of getting around and how this changes people's lives and makes them more productive citizens and more employable is the ongoing challenge for us.

Tony Candela: And you mentioned to me off tape that just yesterday you had a little public relations event to inform the Rehab Counselors of northern California about the GPS.

Mike May: I'm constantly on the publicity bandwagon and it almost doesn't matter if I talk about BrailleNote GPS, it's really GPS in general that I'm promoting, trying to get people excited about where they can go, what they can do.

Last week, we came back from a trip to Ireland and Scotland where 20 people, most of them blind, were learning new cities: Dublin, Cork and Edinburgh and we were exploring them using the BrailleNote GPs. And not all of them were super travelers. It was just a group of people who wanted to explore these other cities and the GPS was one of the tools they were using. They had to apply every other ability they had as well and that's a good promotion.

We give seminars. There's just a lot of education that has to happen in order for people to understand the importance of getting around.

Tony Candela: Is this technology still too expensive for the personal market, unlike let's say what Deane Blazie told us about the Braille 'n Speak that you could write a check for out of your personal coffers. Are these technologies still too expensive?

Mike May: By and large it's expensive because one has to have the system, the BrailleNote or the PDA. And whether it's a BrailleNote or a PAC Mate or something else that's not out yet, in this small market, those devices, they always end up costing a couple of thousand dollars or more.

The Braille 'n Speak was an exception, getting down into a place where people could buy it. But it's still at $1300 a pop, it was more than the non-employed blind person could normally afford.

So cost is still something we need to address and hope to get these...a combination of "Let's get it cheaper," Let's also get more funding from Rehab.

Tony Candela: And perhaps other sources that may not fund this right now. Rehab is a market that is there, if a person is in that system. But there's lots and lots of people who are not in that system that also might not be able to write a check for what ends up being $4500.

Mike May: Exactly. And certainly the fact that there has been legislation that hasn't gone anywhere yet but the legislation that would allow mobility instruction, and potentially way-finding technology, to fall under an insurance category. That would certainly help, funded from a broader source and a broader number of individuals.

Tony Candela: And you have steadfastly held to the philosophy that as much of the technology components as possible that can be drawn in from the mainstream, will make them probably better components, also less expensive components. Helps at least to get the trend going in the direction of lowering the cost.

Mike May: Absolutely.

Tony Candela: But still the specialty...

Mike May: Device, the BrailleNote, is going to cost something.

Tony Candela: And so those types of devices somehow miraculously get cheaper as well.

Mike May: We keep hoping, and I've tried to go down this path and it hasn't been successful yet, doesn't mean that it can't be, let's come up with a product that is attractive to the generally sighted market and just happens to be useful to blind people.

I went to a major GPS receiver manufacturer and said, "I have some money to spend in investment. Rather than develop a customized, specialized product, why don't I just put that money in your product and we'll have a secret switch. You hold down two keys and it turns on the verbose mode, for blind guys." They wouldn't do it.

Tony Candela: Any idea why not?

Mike May: They told me very directly that if they added $5 of cost to their bottom line, cost of goods, that they would not be competitive.

Cause we're talking about GPS receivers that sell for $99, which means that their cost of goods is $20. Well they can't raise that to $25 and that would raise some cost cause there's extra testing involved and all sorts of things.

Tony Candela: The mainstream market is that delicate, apparently.

Mike May: Yes.

Now I of course argued that this would be a beneficial feature for low vision, for elderly and maybe even for the general public as well, to have this talking GPS.

Tony Candela: And certainly we've seen in automobiles incorporation of talking systems, not only for GPS but for other indicators that people have generally used their eyes to see while driving in cars.

Mike May: They just don't talk quite enough for a blind person. The menus don't talk cause the sighted people don't need the menus. It just tells you when to turn.

Tony Candela: At least there's some semblance of transition from completely visual to somewhat auditory technology, even in the mainstream. Hopefully there is, in that, a lever that will eventually get people to go over to more verbose technology.

Mike May: Hope so.

Tony Candela: Anything else about the business that you'd love to see changing over time?

Mike May: The funding we've talked about and the collaboration with other businesses is something that I enjoy and would like to see more of. We can collaborate and combine resources when you have a small market. That's always useful.

I lament the disappearance of the small dealership that does the hand holding that blind people still need. Just because technology has gotten better and more effective, doesn't mean that people still don't need a lot of training and help. And right now Sendero's in a position where their company size and focus that we're able to provide that kind of hand holding and I think it's useful.

It's what made Custom Eyes successful in the early days and it's what not only makes a company successful, but it makes me feel good, on a day to day basis, to know that our customers are taken care of and they're using the stuff. It's not sitting on a shelf somewhere.

Tony Candela: So many of the small companies have rolled up into some of the larger ones now, taking away some of the personal touch.

Mike May: Yeah. They've gone away, and that's the nature of business, but I do lament the fact.

Tony Candela: Yes. Many of the folks whom I've interviewed have said that there's a niche for the smaller company when something new needs to be developed. It's more likely gonna be developed by a smaller company than a larger company.

In that respect, there's hope that the smaller company can live on, at least for certain segments of time, until they've got their products. Then you don't know what's going to happen. They could roll up into one of the larger companies again.

But there is hope.

Mike May: Yes. We're certainly, I hope, a beacon, and I'm sure there are some others.

Tony Candela: Well, Mike, your son has a soccer game soon today. And we have covered a lot of ground. I really appreciate your spending this time with me. Hopefully this is somewhat different from the media contact that we talked about earlier.

Mike May: It's just a chat.

Tony Candela: Just a chat and that's what we want.

I want to thank you for doing this with me and wish you, your family, Jennifer, Sendero, Way-finding technology and anything that you dream of that you want to do in the future, the best of luck and the greatest of success. You're a hell of a nice guy and I appreciate your time.

Mike May: Thanks for including me in this list. There's some people who have had an incredible impact on the industry and I guess no one of those people would have had an impact just by themselves so it's really a pleasure to be included in this collection and thanks for all your good questions.

Tony Candela: You're very welcome.

(End of Interview)