Photo caption: John Rafferty, CNIB's president and CEO, hands the Winston Gordon Award to Rob Nevin,MIPsoft's minister of the interior.
On Wednesday, March 25 CNIB awarded the Winston
Gordon Award for excellence in accessible technology to Finnish
company, MIPsoft, for their GPS-style app “BlindSquare”
with a breakfast ceremony at the charity’s head office in Toronto, ON.
MIPsoft has taken GPS navigation to a new level.BlindSquare – which is available
for purchase through Apple’s
App Store – uses GPS, your phone’s compass and FourSquare to
deliver information verbally about what is around you. The app also gives users
the ability to plan out an entire trip before leaving home - whether getting on
a bus, hailing a cab, selecting a great place to eat or just walking down an
unfamiliar street with confidence. All of this is possible from the comfort of
your couch.
“I am honored to have
BlindSquare recognized by CNIB and the prestige of the Winston Gordon Award,”
says Ilkka Pirttimaa, CEO and lead iOS developer at MIPsoft. “BlindSquare was
built to solve many problems facing blind travelers daily. It’s a bit
unusual as it’s an app that is continually being refined, not from our talents
alone, but from the daily experiences of thousands of travelers who have come to
enjoy new information, new choices and a bigger and safer world beyond the tip
of their cane.”
“I accept this award on behalf
of myself and thousands of clients, hundreds of beta testers, dozens of
translators supporting the localization into 25 languages. Our history has
served the playground of the outdoor world, and with the help of GPS and
crowd-sourced information, we guide,” says Pirttimaa. “Our future, starting
today, is to break that limit and allow the navigation to continue,
indoors. With sponsorship by MIPsoft, Kontakt.io (global
manufacturers of iBeacons) Acapela group (global suppliers of the premium
voices used by BlindSquare) and Aftershokz (global manufacturers of bone
conduction headsets) we would like to honor the award by responding with the
installation of a BPS (Beacon Positioning System) inside CNIB national office
in Toronto – to allow the experience of using BlindSquare to continue
indoors. This is a first in the world engagement and we’re honoured to
introduce it with CNIB.”
The BPS will allow travelers
to better navigate once they get inside a building through the use of the
BlindSquare app. It will alert them to different areas inside a building such
as a cafeteria, washroom, meeting room and other important markers they’d like
to make through the use of their iCloud.
“I am truly looking forward to utilizing the indoor navigation
capability of BlindSquare,” says Debbie Gillespie, CNIB’s accessibility
coordinator. “It’s a natural fit for me, and opens up endless possibilities for
independent navigation and wayfinding. It is a welcome addition to my
technology toolkit.”
About the Winston Gordon Award
The Winston Gordon Award was established by CNIB
in 1988 and is presented to an individual or group who has made significant
technological advances benefiting people with vision loss through the
development of a product, software or application. For more information on the
Winston Gordon Award visit, cnib.ca
About MIPsoft
MIPsoft,
founded in 1989, is a software company specializing in the development of
smartphone applications. Based in Helsinki, Finland, it works with an
international team of freelancers from the US, Germany, UK, Estonia, and
Sweden, most of whom are blind or partially sighted. Close monitoring of social
media channels and of relevant Email discussion lists as well as rapid
development cycles allow constant product advancement. Additionally, MIPsoft
has earned a reputation for outstanding customer support. For more information
on BlindSquare visit, blindsquare.com.
About CNIB
CNIB is a registered charity, passionately providing community-based
support, knowledge and a national voice to ensure Canadians who are blind or
partially sighted have the confidence, skills and opportunities to fully
participate in life. For more information, visit cnib.ca.