November 5th, 2014
Press launch of Cities Unlocked
The BBC's Rory Cellan-Jones navigating steps blindfolded with the help of a long cane and Guide Dogs Mobility Instructor Chris Yates
On the 6th November Cities Unlocked officially launched. To mark this we invited some journalists to come and experience the route of the technology demonstrator between Reading and London. As part of the experience the journalists were blindfolded and with the help of Guide Dogs Mobility Instructors and long canes they navigated (slowly) some 100m to the entrance of Paddington station. They found it an amazing experience to be suddenly experiencing the world through sound and smell and touch alone. This process which builds ‘design empathy’ has been a really important aspect of the training for the designers and developers who built the 3D SoundScape and did this many times during the process.