Knobbly pavements and ticking pedestrian crossings are one thing, but the frustrating experience of getting around the city for visually impaired people could soon be revolutionised by a new navigational headset which claims to let you hear your surroundings as a “3D soundscape”.Developed by Microsoft and the Guide Dogs charity over the last two years, with the government-funded Future Cities Catapult, the headset contains a GPS tracker, compass and gyroscope, and can be programmed to talk to you through your route, like a pedestrian sat-nav. Paired with a smartphone, it uses location information from Microsoft’s Bing maps, which can be supplemented by tiny Bluetooth-enabled beacons stuck to lamp-posts around the city.
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